(IJCH) My Thoughts on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - A book by Phillip K. Dick and the basis for "Blade Runner"
IJCH - Inside JaiChai's Head (Meaning: My Warped, Personal Opinions and Musings)
From the Author:
Salutations.
I am JaiChai.
And if I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you before, I'm delighted to make your acquaintance now.
About Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick is one of my favorite authors.
He has written MANY books and short stories that I've pondered over and over again since I was young.
Suffering from agoraphobia, he rarely left his home. His friends described him as paranoid most of the time.
And his therapist could not tell if he was clinically schizophrenic or was merely tormented by a genius level imagination gone wild.
Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American writer known for his work in science fiction.
His work explored philosophical, social, and political themes, with stories dominated by monopolistic corporations, alternative universes, authoritarian governments, and altered states of consciousness.
His writing also reflected his interest in metaphysics and theology, and often drew upon his life experiences in addressing the nature of reality, identity, drug abuse, schizophrenia, and transcendental experiences.
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - The Novel
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1968.
The novel is set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, where Earth's life has been greatly damaged by nuclear global war.
Most animal species are endangered or extinct from extreme radiation poisoning, so that owning an animal is now a sign of status and an attitude of empathy towards animals is encouraged .
The book served as the primary basis for the 1982 film Blade Runner, and many elements and themes from it were used in its 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049.
My Thoughts on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
Having seen the "Blade Runner" movies many times before, I was curious about its basis - the book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
I finally finished reading it yesterday.
To me, the movies didn't emphasize the obsession with "real, living things" as much as the book does.
The Value of "Real" Things in the Book
The main character is Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter whose job is "retiring" (i.e. killing) six escaped Nexus-6 model androids.
But he ends up spending his bounty money on a goat.
Much like today's "Blue Book" for cars, there is a "Sydney's" - a book that lists the "List Price" for animals categorized by species, age, health, gender, etc. Although there wasn't a "Sidney's" for Humans, I could imagine that if Humans became rare, the androids would have their version of it.
The androids that Deckard hunts is the most advanced models called "Nexus Six" androids.
According to all the experts advising Deckard, the Nexus Six models are by far the most human-like androids built to date.
Hell, Decker even ends up falling in love and sleeping with one named Rachel Rosen
“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” - Value Judgments
After reading the book, I wondered what exactly was the main reason for living things, not electric machines, to be so highly prized?
Was it their transient nature? I mean, unlike machines that could - if maintained properly, "live" forever, the death of animals (like humans) was a certainty.
Was it scarcity? Most animals had become extinct in Decker's world.
Was it the flaws? Flaws are becoming the only way to authenticate real diamonds from synthetic ones.
Was it market manipulation? Again, a la the De Beers or OPEC Empires.
What are your opinions on this "Value Issue"?
Parting Shot
Download link for "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Phillip K. Dick" .pdf
https://www.larevuedesressources.org/IMG/pdf/dadoes.pdf
Enjoy.
By JaiChai
Mighty Kind of You for stopping by.
Truly hope to see you again!
About the Author
Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an AA, BS and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic.
In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he performed high altitude, free-fall parachute jumps and hazardous diving ops in deep, open ocean water.
After 24 years of active duty, he retired in Asia.
Since then, he's been a full-time, single papa and actively pursuing his varied passions (Writing, Disruptive Technology, Computer Science and Cryptocurrency - plus more hobbies too boring or bizarre for most folk).
He lives on an island paradise with his teenage daughter, longtime girlfriend and three dogs.
"My mind was a terrible thing to waste..." - JaiChai