The questions aren't up yet, so i'll just post a quick recap of the chapter until later.
This is the second JR Isador-centric chapter in the novel. it isnt specified, but it seems like this takes place before the last chapter with Rachel. this chapter, it appears that Rachel Rosen has moved in below Isador, and for some odd reason is shirtless in front of a somewhat threatening (to her, because she does not know John) figure. this is evidence that she is an android, but without that, i would think that she is human. if it is occurring at the same time as the previous chapter, i would believe that something crazy happened. my guess is that rachel was believed to be dead, and so the rosen's made an android to replace her. or, the real rachel knew too much about the corruption of the Rosen Corp., and was forced to assume another identity, in order to save herself from being killed/retired. i really have no clue, but im sure it will all be answered in time. but, to sum it up, there is some thing weird about the fact that she used an alias, didnt wear a shirt in front of a stranger, and most importantly, was at a different time at the same place.
she seems to be scared of isador at first. once she warms up to him, he accidentally lets it slip that he's a special. the says that he almost passed the IQ test. she seems to act condescending towards him, but still somewhat friendly. what i want to know is why he is considered a special. sure he seems weird, and he is very socially awkward, but most of that seems to be a result of his isolation. i would like to find out why he is a "special"
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Modern World By Wold Parade
The above is the music video of Modern World by Wolf Parade. even if you dont like the song, the video is pretty cool, and its somewhat related to class. the idea that it conveys is kinda scarry though. i hope it never happens. it reminds me of the anti-technology paranoia that is present in much of science fiction.
Chapter 5
I thought that chapter 4 was really boring, but this one, although had pretty much no action, was very interesting.
The chapter starts with rick giving Rachel the empathy test. i predicted pretty early on that she was an android. her responses seemed more like she was told to say these things than truly believing them herself. she takes the test, and rick determines, after almost being proven wrong, that she is in fact android. he learns how the Nexus-6 androids work, and they must have been programmed with some sort of artificial empathy of some sort. this worries me, because once man somehow magically finds a way to program empathy, robots will truly be human.
soon, in the setting of the novel, the only thing that will differentiate a human from an android is a bone marrow test. if robots have empathy, there will be absolutely nothing separating them from humans. humans simulate responses just as androids do. for instance, if someone has an opinion that conflicts with the general consensus of the population, and do not want to be looked down upon by the rest of society, this person will often lie about how they feel to fit in. or, if someone has done something wrong, they will simulate a response to keep themselves out of trouble, just as rachel did.
having several vegetarian and vegan family members, i am well educated on the beliefs of PETA. in my opinion, PETA, like all political groups, lies to the public to a certain degree to get followers. although i do not agree with the views of vegetarians, i respect them. i do not respect how PETA does their work. they conduct the promotion of non-cruelty to animals by acting cruel to humans. they take it too far, i think.
The chapter starts with rick giving Rachel the empathy test. i predicted pretty early on that she was an android. her responses seemed more like she was told to say these things than truly believing them herself. she takes the test, and rick determines, after almost being proven wrong, that she is in fact android. he learns how the Nexus-6 androids work, and they must have been programmed with some sort of artificial empathy of some sort. this worries me, because once man somehow magically finds a way to program empathy, robots will truly be human.
soon, in the setting of the novel, the only thing that will differentiate a human from an android is a bone marrow test. if robots have empathy, there will be absolutely nothing separating them from humans. humans simulate responses just as androids do. for instance, if someone has an opinion that conflicts with the general consensus of the population, and do not want to be looked down upon by the rest of society, this person will often lie about how they feel to fit in. or, if someone has done something wrong, they will simulate a response to keep themselves out of trouble, just as rachel did.
having several vegetarian and vegan family members, i am well educated on the beliefs of PETA. in my opinion, PETA, like all political groups, lies to the public to a certain degree to get followers. although i do not agree with the views of vegetarians, i respect them. i do not respect how PETA does their work. they conduct the promotion of non-cruelty to animals by acting cruel to humans. they take it too far, i think.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Idea on the Ending of the Novel
I have a prediction about how the book is going to end, or at least an event that will happen at some point late in the novel. It seems to me that it is foreshadowing at its best when the lady on tv in chapter 3 says something along the lines of "Thankfully, the threat of the dust is eliminated on mars, permanently." I predict that those who have emigrated will soon have a war of their own on the new planet, and end up in the same place as those on Earth.
5 Questions
Umm, at the time of this post, nobody else put up questions, so i guess i cant answer them. ill just write mine, and answer everyone else's later, i guess.
1. What is Mercerism? from the looks of it, it seems to be a a religion of sorts, but who is Wilbur Mercer?
2. What is the empathy box, and how is it made, how does it work, etcetera?
3. What specifically happens to a person once they become a "special," and how it specifically happens. all that is specified is that it is caused by the dust.
4. Why WWT started, how it ended, and who was involved in it.
5. What happened to dave holden? is he going to be ok?
1. What is Mercerism? from the looks of it, it seems to be a a religion of sorts, but who is Wilbur Mercer?
2. What is the empathy box, and how is it made, how does it work, etcetera?
3. What specifically happens to a person once they become a "special," and how it specifically happens. all that is specified is that it is caused by the dust.
4. Why WWT started, how it ended, and who was involved in it.
5. What happened to dave holden? is he going to be ok?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
DADES Chapter 2 & 3
While wondering around on the Internet aimlessly as I so often do, I stumbled upon an interview with Ridley Scott, the director of the blade runner film. In this interview, Scott said that he had never finished reading DADES until after the movie was done. He said that when he spoke to Phillip K. Dick, he told him this. His justification for it was that the book was incredibly dense, and he had never read a book that had set up so much backstory in the first 37 pages, and it was all too much for him to process. As Ironic and neglectful I thought this was at the time, I can help but agree with him. This book, and chapter 2 in particular, is very confusing, and very dense.
I have no idea why nobody remembers any of the details about WWT. My best theory is that it was a quick, nuclear war that resulted in confused devastation, and the government withheld most of the information about it. I also had no idea why the owls died first. I know its an important fact symbolically, but the only idea I can offer is that the dust might come out stronger at night, and since owls are nocturnal, they were affected first. Another detail that I’m completely oblivious to is what “special” really means. It seemed as if the new character, John Isador, who is a special, had some sort of ability to merge with others, but it also seemed like some kind of trippy dream sequence. Im really not sure. He lives in an abandoned apartment complex, until recently, when it appears that someone else moved in downstairs.
An advertisement that was overheard in Isador’s apartment was referring to the halcyon days, referring to slavery, but rather than advertising human slaves, it was advertising androids. Dick is comparing the android situation to civil rights, which was going on at the time this book was written. Androids have somehow become a threat of some sort. I recall mention of them escaping back to earth and murdering humans, but its unclear. Rick’s job is to retire the androids, for what seems to be a just cause, because they have become a nuisance. The problem is that the androids appear to be the exact same as people. The way to find out is through empathy tests, which are, again, unspecified tests that are given to android suspects to see if they have empathy and emotions. If they do, they are human. If they don’t, they are androids.
Chapter 3 was fairly simple. To summarize, Rick goes to work, and talks to his boss. He informs Rick that the head bounty hunter is in the hospital. He was shot. He tells him to meet him at 9:30. Rick then gets on his vidphone, and tries to bargain with a salesman about the purchase of an ostrich he saw on his way to work. After coming to the conclusion that he cannot afford it. After that, he secretively tries to get an ostrich robot. He runs out of time, because it is 9:30, and he has to go to meet his boss.
I have no idea why nobody remembers any of the details about WWT. My best theory is that it was a quick, nuclear war that resulted in confused devastation, and the government withheld most of the information about it. I also had no idea why the owls died first. I know its an important fact symbolically, but the only idea I can offer is that the dust might come out stronger at night, and since owls are nocturnal, they were affected first. Another detail that I’m completely oblivious to is what “special” really means. It seemed as if the new character, John Isador, who is a special, had some sort of ability to merge with others, but it also seemed like some kind of trippy dream sequence. Im really not sure. He lives in an abandoned apartment complex, until recently, when it appears that someone else moved in downstairs.
An advertisement that was overheard in Isador’s apartment was referring to the halcyon days, referring to slavery, but rather than advertising human slaves, it was advertising androids. Dick is comparing the android situation to civil rights, which was going on at the time this book was written. Androids have somehow become a threat of some sort. I recall mention of them escaping back to earth and murdering humans, but its unclear. Rick’s job is to retire the androids, for what seems to be a just cause, because they have become a nuisance. The problem is that the androids appear to be the exact same as people. The way to find out is through empathy tests, which are, again, unspecified tests that are given to android suspects to see if they have empathy and emotions. If they do, they are human. If they don’t, they are androids.
Chapter 3 was fairly simple. To summarize, Rick goes to work, and talks to his boss. He informs Rick that the head bounty hunter is in the hospital. He was shot. He tells him to meet him at 9:30. Rick then gets on his vidphone, and tries to bargain with a salesman about the purchase of an ostrich he saw on his way to work. After coming to the conclusion that he cannot afford it. After that, he secretively tries to get an ostrich robot. He runs out of time, because it is 9:30, and he has to go to meet his boss.
DADES Chapter 1
Ok, so I had some trouble logging in, so I just decided to make a new account. Anyways…
The book starts out with a news report type thing. Its about a turtle that recently died. The significance, or at least what ive determined, was that animals in general are an important part of the post world war terminus society. Most of the animals of the world have died, and although it wasn’t specifically stated, I believe that it was the last of its species, which recently died off. Animals are important to their society for two main reasons. First of all, they are sort of a status item. It makes you seem more upper class to own an animal, and the bigger the animal, the better. On a deeper level, it is also considered important to have a real animal, because they are one of the only fully organic, natural thing still around in their world. There is also some sort of religion/belief called Mercerism. What it is has not been completely specified, but Rick specified that it would be against Mercerism for his neighbor to have two horses, and him to have none. From this, you can infer that it has something to do with their society’s fascination with animals.
For example, all, or at least most of the population has these Penfield mood organs put into them. They are made to give humans a control over their moods. For instance, if you want to feel happy, you dial it to a certain setting. If you want to be depressed, you dial it to another one. Rick, the main character likes the use of the mood organ, but his wife, Iran, is against it. One of the major differences between the two of them is their embracement of technology. Iran is against the overuse, and would like to be human, where as Rick is not as much bothered by technology controlling him. Also, Rick is somewhat meek and yielding towards Iran, and it seems that she is the one in charge in their relationship. They seem bitter towards each other.
The book takes place in San Fransisco, California. The year is 2021, after World War Terminus. The war resulted in dust, or nuclear fallout that causes birth defects of some unspecified sort, as well as the mutation of “regulars” into “specials”. To prevent the defects, men wear lead codpieces. Most of the world has emigrated to mars, where there has been a “second earth” built.
Humanity is a tough thing to define, but I can best define it as the ability to feel, and think. A computer can think, but the one thing setting it apart from a human is that it cannot have emotions.
The book starts out with a news report type thing. Its about a turtle that recently died. The significance, or at least what ive determined, was that animals in general are an important part of the post world war terminus society. Most of the animals of the world have died, and although it wasn’t specifically stated, I believe that it was the last of its species, which recently died off. Animals are important to their society for two main reasons. First of all, they are sort of a status item. It makes you seem more upper class to own an animal, and the bigger the animal, the better. On a deeper level, it is also considered important to have a real animal, because they are one of the only fully organic, natural thing still around in their world. There is also some sort of religion/belief called Mercerism. What it is has not been completely specified, but Rick specified that it would be against Mercerism for his neighbor to have two horses, and him to have none. From this, you can infer that it has something to do with their society’s fascination with animals.
For example, all, or at least most of the population has these Penfield mood organs put into them. They are made to give humans a control over their moods. For instance, if you want to feel happy, you dial it to a certain setting. If you want to be depressed, you dial it to another one. Rick, the main character likes the use of the mood organ, but his wife, Iran, is against it. One of the major differences between the two of them is their embracement of technology. Iran is against the overuse, and would like to be human, where as Rick is not as much bothered by technology controlling him. Also, Rick is somewhat meek and yielding towards Iran, and it seems that she is the one in charge in their relationship. They seem bitter towards each other.
The book takes place in San Fransisco, California. The year is 2021, after World War Terminus. The war resulted in dust, or nuclear fallout that causes birth defects of some unspecified sort, as well as the mutation of “regulars” into “specials”. To prevent the defects, men wear lead codpieces. Most of the world has emigrated to mars, where there has been a “second earth” built.
Humanity is a tough thing to define, but I can best define it as the ability to feel, and think. A computer can think, but the one thing setting it apart from a human is that it cannot have emotions.
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