There are many aspects as to what is human, ranging from what you look like to what you act like. These aspects of humanity are blown up into major themes in both Philip K. Dick’s book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Duncan Jones’ movie Moon. One of the most influential themes in these works questions the true humanity of emotion and one’s own thoughts. At first, it seems as though Dick and Jones are arguing that emotion is not a human quality; however, in many cases of the androids and the clones, emotion is displayed as a very human trait. Philip K. Dick describes emotion in the light of the androids. As is proven by the test that Rick must administer, there are only slight differences between the reaction of an android and the
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In Moon, the main character is learned to be Sam. Sam seems to be a real person who carries on his job on the moon base, patiently waiting for his contract to be up so he can see the family of his that he misses. Sam has emotion, and thus Sam must be human, correct? Well, Sam is a clone. He discovers this when another clone drives out and finds the introduced Sam’s body (Moon). These Sams, which have come to be identified as “bloody Sam” and “angry Sam,” respectively, both overcome hardships knowing that they are just a copy of an original human being after finding a secret room full of “sleeping” clones (Moon). This self-actualization makes these clones gain their own humanity by realizing that they are separate beings. However, the self-actualization and emotion cooperate to also decrease these clones’ humanity by making them feel as though they are less human than the Sam they were copied from. Jones seems to take emotion in the sense that emotion is omnipresent in beings, including in the base’s robot assistant, …show more content…
Against Dick, there is the case of the mood organ that humanity utilizes to control their moods. If humanity can control their moods with this “mood organ,” then is emotion still a human trait? The answer is yes; even with the mood organ, there are instances where other emotions allow for other routes to be taken. Such is with the case of Iran, who argues against Rick that “I can’t dial a setting that stimulates [me]... into wanting to dial! If I don’t want to dial, I don’t want to dial...” (Dick 6-7). Iran doesn’t wish to dial a setting on the mood organ that will make her want to do the one thing she doesn’t want to do at that moment. Instead of utilizing the mood organ, Iran wishes to “sit here on the bed and stare at the floor” (Dick 7). Even this minor feeling she has without the help of the mood organ is an emotion she contained. Thus, emotion can still be considered human by Dick’s standards. Jones, on the other hand, is a different
In Moon, the main character is learned to be Sam. Sam seems to be a real person who carries on his job on the moon base, patiently waiting for his contract to be up so he can see the family of his that he misses. Sam has emotion, and thus Sam must be human, correct? Well, Sam is a clone. He discovers this when another clone drives out and finds the introduced Sam’s body (Moon). These Sams, which have come to be identified as “bloody Sam” and “angry Sam,” respectively, both overcome hardships knowing that they are just a copy of an original human being after finding a secret room full of “sleeping” clones (Moon). This self-actualization makes these clones gain their own humanity by realizing that they are separate beings. However, the self-actualization and emotion cooperate to also decrease these clones’ humanity by making them feel as though they are less human than the Sam they were copied from. Jones seems to take emotion in the sense that emotion is omnipresent in beings, including in the base’s robot assistant, …show more content…
Against Dick, there is the case of the mood organ that humanity utilizes to control their moods. If humanity can control their moods with this “mood organ,” then is emotion still a human trait? The answer is yes; even with the mood organ, there are instances where other emotions allow for other routes to be taken. Such is with the case of Iran, who argues against Rick that “I can’t dial a setting that stimulates [me]... into wanting to dial! If I don’t want to dial, I don’t want to dial...” (Dick 6-7). Iran doesn’t wish to dial a setting on the mood organ that will make her want to do the one thing she doesn’t want to do at that moment. Instead of utilizing the mood organ, Iran wishes to “sit here on the bed and stare at the floor” (Dick 7). Even this minor feeling she has without the help of the mood organ is an emotion she contained. Thus, emotion can still be considered human by Dick’s standards. Jones, on the other hand, is a different