Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep… Musings Part 1

I’ve never seen Blade Runner, nor have I ever read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep before. I’m glad to be given this opportunity though as it makes me remember when I read Hamlet on the Holodeck which covered how science fiction can act as a prophetic voice to future technologies. There are a few things that come to mind as I start to read Androids: 1—as I said, what is in science fiction in one era, can often point to reality in another and 2—often science fiction reveals its roots are still founded in the past.

For instance, in the first few chapters of Androids, video phones still are hung up by placing them on a “cradle.” Recordings are still done on “voice tape.” Television sets still use cathode ray tubes that need time to warm up. Societal norms of conformity are important (such as having real as opposed to electronic animals). The Buster Friendly show sounds very much like an old-fashioned local children’s or variety show. Buster Friendly wants Budweiser Beer. The woman’s striped coat is not unlike the popular fashion of the late 1960’s. Soviet society still exists in Russia Butterfly collecting is still a hobby for little boys.

Yet a few other details point to what we have in our current era. In Androids, the junk industry has been elevated, just as recycling and those who go “green” have been elevated as doing important work in today’s society. Buster Friendly blasts Mercerism as part of his comedy, which I’ve seen especially in the UK that often prominent comedians use the time they have on stage to blast those that espouse traditional beliefs (Bill Bailey, Dylan Moran, Ricki Gervais just to name a few). They mention the “infinity key,” which in a way makes me think of how modern day thieves have figured out how they can enter multiple domiciles using a basic version of a common key and can literally “tap” their way into any lock that uses that type of key. The idea of electronic animals makes me think of those little fake pets that came over from Japan in the 1990’s. Is it clever how they try to be “real?” I guess, but it’s never as fulfilling since they are merely programed to act in a way that a real animal would act.

Empathy Box

The concept of the empathy box and how everyone who hooks into it at the same time hooks into an alternate reality does feel very much like a precursor to cyberspace. But then of course, that’s easy for me to say NOW, since cyberspace exists.

As a Marx Brothers fan, I was relieved to know that the name Groucho would live into the future. Granted, that future WAS originally written to take place in the early 1990’s, so I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised.

One question: Why do abandoned buildings have running water and working electricity?

Dick, P. K. (1968). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. New York: Del Ray Trade Books.
Murray, J. H. (1998). Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace.. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.