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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 u
by the_af 4y 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 4y agoPersonally, 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.