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"The main difference between what Ridley views this all in terms of and what I view it all in terms of is as follows. To me, the replicants (or androids, if you
by kirevmaco 4y ago
"The main difference between what Ridley views this all in terms of and what I view it all in terms of is as follows. To me, the replicants (or androids, if you will) are deplorable because [inaudible] they are cold, they are selfish, they are heartless, they are completely self-centered, they have no empathy, they don't care about what happens to other creatures, and to me this is essentially a less-than-human entity for that reason. Now, Ridley said that he regarded them as supermen who couldn't fly. He said they are smarter than humans, they are stronger than humans, and they have faster reflexes than humans. Well, then I said 'well, gee Ridley, I mean, holy smokes, uh, golly,' and that was about all I could think of to say, you know. That's rather a great divergence, you see: we've gone from somebody who is a simulation of the authentic human to somebody who is literally superior to the authentic human. So we've now flipped all the cards on the table, you see, when we do that: in other words, all the cards that were up are now down and all the ones that were down are now up. And I was at a loss at that point, you know, to respond, I mean. I said, 'okay, now the theme of the book is that Rick Deckard is dehumanized in his job of tracking down the replicants and killing them, that in other words he winds up essentially like they are.' And Ridley said that he regarded that as an intellectual idea and he was not interested in making an esoteric film."
-- Philip K. Dick, interview with Paul M. Sammon (https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=3d7XMnmPgUk https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=3d7XMnmPgUk starting at 19:10)
- JohnJamesRambo 4y ago>they are cold, they are selfish, they are heartless, they are completely self-centered, they have no empathy, they don't care about what happens to other creatures Are we sure that there aren’t a lot of replicants walking around already?
- Krasnol 4y agoDescribe in single words. Only the good things that come into your mind. About your mother.
- lbrito 4y agoSome political currents would wear those adjectives as a badge of honor.
- Der_Einzige 4y agoNo one has any ability to ontologically confirm anything about themselves, no not even the cogito. In fact, blade runner I claim is a movie whose entire message is trying to undo the philosophical cuckerey that Descartes unleashed upon us all
- LegitShady 4y agooof. niw i have to reread the book and watch the movie again to figure out the story from this narrative perspective.
- hodgesrm 4y agoGood quote. For me what distinguishes the film and makes it better than the original story is exactly the elevation of the replicants into fully sentient beings. Batty started out as a grifter in the original and became the center of the story in Ridley Scott's film.
- tralarpa 4y agoI was surprised that the question of sentience and what it means to be a human was actually less pronounced in the original story than in the film. I would have expected something more challenging (if that's the right word) from Dick.
- EamonnMR 4y agoMaybe androids in Electric Sheep have almost a Capgras Delusion quality, especially in the scene in the fake police station. They seem human but they're lacking an essential emotional quality that makes them 'real.'
- high_5 4y agoWow, this pretty much sums the modern post(trans?)-human worldview. Old world meets the new world.