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Highly recommend reading Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep if this kind of stuff interests you. There's a very important plot point related to all of this with

Highly recommend reading Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep if this kind of stuff interests you. There's a very important plot point related to all of this with the Empathy Box and Mercerism in the book that's missing from the movies entirely. (FWIW, it was a concept that was maybe unfilmable anyway.) Mercerism is probably the most bizarre aspect of that book, and fascinating in that way only PKD can manage.

idontwantthis 3y ago
Would you mind explaining mercerism? I’ve read the book and I didn’t really know what was going on. It’s a religion made up by Androids to control humans?
- Polygator 3y ago
  I don't Mercerism is about androids at all. If you read enough PKD short stories, Mercerism is just another of these cool ideas that appear all over the place.
- Trasmatta 3y ago
  > Would you mind explaining mercerism? Like a lot of PKD concepts, it defies a simple explanation (by design). It hits on many of his common themes: consciousness, what it means to be human, the shifting and blurry nature of reality, the merging and melding of different minds, etc. On its surface, it's a religion based on the Messianic "Wilbur Mercer" character, and the shared vision of him that people can enter through the Empathy Box. But then the book explores whether Mercer, and that shared vision in the Empathy Box, is actually "real" or "fake", in a way that closely mirrors the exploration of androids vs humans.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  Basically, the world of Do Androids Dream... kinda sucks. Post-nuclear war, "join the offworld colonies", cyberpunk ghetto, etc. The Mercer box was something people could use to plug in and feel something, sort of like a Mega Church, rock concert, etc. that moves you; something positive in an otherwise negative place. But it's a programmed feeling, it's not real. It contrasts with the hunting-and-retiring-androids thing, in that real people can't feel things unless they plug into a program, and are feeling something wholly artificial -- so how is that really any different from the 'droids?
  - shrimp_emoji 3y ago
    > real people can't feel things unless they plug into a program Too real :p How did he predict my addiction to World of Warcraft in 1968?
  - AlwaysRock 3y ago
    Cant wait till Apple/FB/Amazon/Google finally comes out with their version on a Mercer box.
the_af 3y ago
For the curious, Mercerism is first mentioned in PKD's short story "The Little Black Box", where it's an anti-establishment movement and a genuine religion of unknown origin (speculated by the main characters to possibly be of alien origin). In this story, there is no mention of androids. In Do Androids Dream, PKD seems to have picked up Mercerism as a way to emphasize humankind's capacity for empathy, which androids (replicants) lack. Though the androids claim it's a made up religion if I remember correctly -- but of course they would say that, since they lack empathy and cannot be trusted. Note the characterization of androids in the novel and of replicants in the movie differs in a fundamental issue: androids are cruel and truly incapable of empathy (it's mentioned that an android doesn't even care about their fellow androids) but replicants in the movie are shown being fully capable of empathy: they love and defend each other. Mercerism is no longer a difference between humans and artificial beings, and maybe that's why it was left out of the movie?
- cybrox 3y ago
  Personally, I think the most interesting aspect about Mercerism in the context of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is the fact that, while it is a way to "emphasize humankind's capacity for empathy", as you've nicely put it, it is also constrained to the empathy box which is labelled as ones most prized possession and an extension of ones body in the book. Assuming the empathy box is merely an extension of ones self and using it requires obeying a relatively strict process (taking part in Mercer's "martyr walk"), what's left of you as a human being outside of it, is a biomechanical shell not much more capable or understanding of empathy than any android.
AlwaysRock 3y ago
Book is pretty short too. And one of PKD that holds up really well.

idontwantthis 3y ago

Would you mind explaining mercerism? I’ve read the book and I didn’t really know what was going on. It’s a religion made up by Androids to control humans?

Polygator 3y ago
I don't Mercerism is about androids at all. If you read enough PKD short stories, Mercerism is just another of these cool ideas that appear all over the place.
Trasmatta 3y ago
> Would you mind explaining mercerism? Like a lot of PKD concepts, it defies a simple explanation (by design). It hits on many of his common themes: consciousness, what it means to be human, the shifting and blurry nature of reality, the merging and melding of different minds, etc. On its surface, it's a religion based on the Messianic "Wilbur Mercer" character, and the shared vision of him that people can enter through the Empathy Box. But then the book explores whether Mercer, and that shared vision in the Empathy Box, is actually "real" or "fake", in a way that closely mirrors the exploration of androids vs humans.
red-iron-pine 3y ago
Basically, the world of Do Androids Dream... kinda sucks. Post-nuclear war, "join the offworld colonies", cyberpunk ghetto, etc. The Mercer box was something people could use to plug in and feel something, sort of like a Mega Church, rock concert, etc. that moves you; something positive in an otherwise negative place. But it's a programmed feeling, it's not real. It contrasts with the hunting-and-retiring-androids thing, in that real people can't feel things unless they plug into a program, and are feeling something wholly artificial -- so how is that really any different from the 'droids?
- shrimp_emoji 3y ago
  > real people can't feel things unless they plug into a program Too real :p How did he predict my addiction to World of Warcraft in 1968?
- AlwaysRock 3y ago
  Cant wait till Apple/FB/Amazon/Google finally comes out with their version on a Mercer box.

the_af 3y ago

For the curious, Mercerism is first mentioned in PKD's short story "The Little Black Box", where it's an anti-establishment movement and a genuine religion of unknown origin (speculated by the main characters to possibly be of alien origin). In this story, there is no mention of androids. In Do Androids Dream, PKD seems to have picked up Mercerism as a way to emphasize humankind's capacity for empathy, which androids (replicants) lack. Though the androids claim it's a made up religion if I remember correctly -- but of course they would say that, since they lack empathy and cannot be trusted. Note the characterization of androids in the novel and of replicants in the movie differs in a fundamental issue: androids are cruel and truly incapable of empathy (it's mentioned that an android doesn't even care about their fellow androids) but replicants in the movie are shown being fully capable of empathy: they love and defend each other. Mercerism is no longer a difference between humans and artificial beings, and maybe that's why it was left out of the movie?

cybrox 3y ago
Personally, I think the most interesting aspect about Mercerism in the context of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is the fact that, while it is a way to "emphasize humankind's capacity for empathy", as you've nicely put it, it is also constrained to the empathy box which is labelled as ones most prized possession and an extension of ones body in the book. Assuming the empathy box is merely an extension of ones self and using it requires obeying a relatively strict process (taking part in Mercer's "martyr walk"), what's left of you as a human being outside of it, is a biomechanical shell not much more capable or understanding of empathy than any android.

AlwaysRock 3y ago

Book is pretty short too. And one of PKD that holds up really well.