Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Being an android suggests being a humanoid robot, do robots dream at all? To understand the complexity of the question, one must realize what having dreams suggests. Dreams are often considered to be an indication of the inner workings of one’s subconscious, and the subconscious is what leads to the development of intuitive thinking, or the gut feeling. The presence of intuition or a gut feeling is an indicator to the presence of emotions as intuition most often depicts how one truly feels about any subject, so having dreams suggests, to me, the presence of emotions. Furthering this analysis of the title of Dick’s book, I realize that if robots can indeed dream then what do they dream about? Dick suggests electric sheep. Dreaming about electric sheep, androids must care for them or feel for them in some manner, so with his most odd title, Dick suggests to me that a humanoid robot can indeed have emotions, and even more interesting than the presence of emotions in robots would be the presence of empathy within the manufactured entity, and the presence of empathy within the android is the subject of the book, so it’s not an odd title after all!
The Cover of Philip K. Dick's Book
Following on the title analysis, the importance of these two traits becomes a concern. Empathy helps Deckard, the bounty hunter, to distinguish an android from a human. That was his job, to find escaped androids and to retire them. Emotions can be declared as the cause of empathy. In Gale’s view, emotions are what, “in [Dick’s] view made men human” (Anthology, 331). Gale’s analysis seems to be correct as that is exactly how Deckard must differentiate between humans and androids. Also, Dick doesn’t portray the android, Rachel, as having emotion. Sure, during Deckard’s time at the Rosen Association’s Building in Seattle, the reader can sense that Rachel is frustrated, but the conversation prior to the empathy test between her and Deckard there clearly shows the logic behind her frustration; the logic itself is irrelevant, but the striking absence of emotions helps further understanding of the androids.
How Do You Feel About This?
The logic can be deemed irrelevant because the new Nexus-6 Androids have, among other things, ten million possible combinations of cerebral activity” (Dick, 30). The presence of logic simply suggests the capabilities of the android, but one part of Rachel’s logic seems odd. She, or rather it, lies about the owl. It tells Deckard that the owl is genuine. Fittingly, during the walk from the hover-car to the testing room, Deckard’s empathy for animals manifests itself, and Rachel, I think, was testing Deckard’s empathy. When she, it, tells Deckard that the owl is genuine, Deckard’s interest in the owl seems to increase dramatically, to the point where he would like to purchase the last owl on Earth! Rachel’s logic becomes clearer when the owl is offered to Deckard; the android was bating Deckard the whole time. All of this proves the amazing intelligence present in the Nexus-6 models; another proof would be the fact that Deckard superior was almost killed by one of these humanoids. Clearly, the machines are intelligent.
The Shooting of Deckard's Superior
Evidently, Dick has created a world in which emotions can save a human, and the lack of them demonstrates the humanoid robot. What could be the message Dick is trying to deliver? The message lies within Mercerism which seems to be the closest thing to religion on the now sick Earth. A Mercerite according to Deckard “can sense evil” (Dick, 32). This evil is represented as the Killers who try to literally kill the Mercerites during their ascension. Because of Deckard’s reasoning of how to spot the Killers, Dick’s message emerges. Dick wants to eliminate all the evil in the world, and so he defines it with his own explanation. Evil exists where there is a complete void of emotions that allow for a connection to others, and this attribute can lend itself to the real world as most sociopaths and molesters lack empathy (Anthology, 275E). This can merit why Dick portrays the Androids as lacking empathy; he’s portraying them as criminals.
There is so much to discuss with Dick’s book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but Dick’s books have made it past pictures all the way to motion pictures with sound. So how many words is that? At no point, will analysis ever make up for the essence of Dick’s book, for it’s this very essence that captures the reader’s attention and affects their emotions. Dick wants empathy to be omnipresent in the world, so that there can be an end to crime and possibly everything bad with the world. If everyone cares for everyone then, Dick will have succeeded in spreading his message, and until then, find empathy to avoid evil.
My first true passion was cricket! I used to wake up early for the neighborhood morning matches and stay up late talking about the latest news from the cricket world. One day, during a cricket regional qualifying match, a blackout cut all power in my neighborhood. The electricity returned almost immediately, but the spikes in voltage caused some problems with the cable, and my television channels reset! I just about died of grief when I couldn’t find the cricket channel, so I settled for the bland and boring golf channel! After a few minutes into the match, I asked myself, “What’s the point of golf? Why would anyone play such a tasteless sport?” My initial view of golf! Please don't mind the language[1]
And, with that thought, I forgot about golf for almost half a decade. I reconnected with golf when I moved to the States; my house juxtaposed a golf course. Gradually, I began appreciating the sport. Golf was relaxing, and I began to learn the values of golf. I began to see the point of golf, and one must understand the game before realizing its purpose. In the words of George Bush, Honorary Chairman of The First Tee Foundation, “Golf is the sport of a lifetime, and it is a lesson in life,” and I have learned many life-lessons through golf. [2]
The sport is unique as it has different expectations from its players. Football, for example, demands that players be perfect in all aspects of the game, but “Golf is Not a Game of Perfect” [3]. Golf requires patience and persistence like the itsy-bitsy spider. Golfers must be persistent in their efforts because golf is not an action sport like football. Rather, golf is a continual process similar to natural processes like the water cycle. The most important part of the process is to “begin with the end in mind” [4]. Golfers must visualize every aspect of their shot, and in doing so, golfers create every shot twice, once in their mind and then in actuality. This is a key part of golf; the ability to adapt your shot to the golf course. After all, golfers must play with the course, using the usurpations of the hills and the wind, as tools, to their advantage. This is also a key part of life; the ability to use one’s environment to serve their own needs. Visualize the End Result[5]
Golf also engenders confidence within a person. Before a golfer visualizes their shot, they must believe themselves as able-bodied, or capable of performing their visualization. This is the core of one’s self-confidence, belief in them self. Golf is a game of consistency; if I believe that I can execute a really difficult shot about 3 out of 10 tries, then I must also believe that I will fail 7 out of 10 tries. I’ve actually brought many difficult shots into actuality with my self-confidence, even during tournament play. Reflecting upon myself, these shots weren’t reliable because I wasn’t able to consistently recreate the shot when I tried to do so later, but my confidence in my abilities allowed me to make the best out of some very tough situations. This sort of confidence helps a person in all aspects of their life. A Difficult Shot[6]
That’s not to say that sometimes confidence becomes overconfidence. If I had failed to recreate my visualization, then, no doubt, I would’ve been in a worse situation. I have played very risky shots, sometimes I had to start the ball towards the out of bounds! If I had failed, I would be responsible for the consequences. Golfers are always responsible for their actions, and this quality is evident in all golfers, no matter what their skill level is. Golfers will indefinitely repair any damage they do to the course, so with this in mind, I realized that the golf impacts the golfer, who in turn gives back to the sport by taking care of the golf course, a natural cycle, or process, present in golf.
Golf, with its many lessons, benefits the player, and the player will benefit the society because the greatest lesson that golf teaches a golfer is selflessness. Each and every golfer realizes that the traditions and rules of the game are larger than the player. My behavior on the course most directly affects me, but it also affects the people around me. Thus, my behavior off the course has the same effects. I realize this, and so do many of professional golfers. Tiger Woods has set up his own foundation called the Tiger Woods Foundation; his foundation has helped millions of kids, and continues to help, with their education! Here is an individual, Eldrick “Tiger” Woods, who has given back in the greatest forms of servitude, the service of education. Another great philanthropic effort inspired through golf is called Eagles for St. Jude; the sponsors and partners of this organization donate a set amount of dollars for every eagle that a partner makes while playing in a PGA or LPGA Tour Event, to help pay for the treatment of a child in the St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital and to fund researchers who are looking for a cure to cancer at St. Jude’s. The major partner of Eagles for St. Jude is golf professional Vijay Singh, and he attracted all of the other five partners of the organization. Tiger and Vijay are an example of how the effect golf has on an individual is advantageous for society. Certainly, there is a plethora of philanthropic efforts that are inspired through golf, and I, myself, have used golf to give back to my community. The Big Fijian [7]
I was inspired to do this when I found out that my youth committee, Sister Cities Youth Committee, wasn’t going to be funded by the city. Our committee had planned a trip in the summer for a Leadership Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but we were informed of our funding dilemma only three months prior to our planned trip. I proposed a golf tournament to solve our financial crisis, and while making an initial assessment on how much the committee could raise through a golf tournament, I realized that we could raise significantly more money than we needed. I proposed that with that extra money the committee can set up a scholarship for the local high school seniors who will be going to college. Just last year, this scholarship was set up and named after the title sponsor of the tournament, Fernando A. Salinas. Even though the scholarship was my idea, the credit must go to the game of golf. Only through the lessons that I have learned particularly the lesson of selflessness was I able envision and actualize a dream; I was able to give back to my community before going to college. 1st Annual Fernando A. Salinas Golf Tournament[8] I can’t believe that at one point in my life I thought of golf to be a bland and boring sport. Nothing could’ve been farther from the truth. How can golf be tasteless when there are so many aspects to it? I’d like to say that golf is not a sport; golf is a journey, and the journey is life-long! Through my own personal experiences, I have realized the values present in golf. I have realized how to be in harmony with my environment, and I have comprehensively understood the importance of visualization. I have improved my self-confidence and am, now, a more responsible individual; I’ve even helped give back to my community. If golf impacts individuals, like Tiger, Vijay and myself, in society in such amazing ways, then one can only imagine the true extent of the impact that golf has had in shaping society up till the current year! Golf is a source of positive influences for all who choose to embark on its never-ending journey, and with these positive influences, golf shapes the personality of its players who in turn shape the world. It’s a unique natural process!
________ Word Count = 1536 Word Count without Quotes = 1509 ________ END-NOTES
[1] Robin Williams performing live comedy using golf as a medium. When I first encountered golf, I felt that golf is just as Robin makes it to be, a joke, but a wise man once said, "Don't be quick to judge a book by its cover." The wise man was right once more. Video Courtesy of HBO and YouTube user, Barondonvito; Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/v/xDQd49rEF_0&hl=en&fs=1&.
[2] An elderly gentleman who signifies that golf truly is a life-long sport. Image Source: http://www.nestle.com/NR/rdonlyres/6BDCCD9F-C03F-4149-ACE4-ACA8835C375F/0/vitamin_d.jpg.
[3] Bob Rotella, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect (New York: SIMON&SCHUSTER), 1.
[4] Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: FREE PRESS), 98.
[5] This golfer, Camillo Villegas, is visualizing his shot and is beginning with the end in mind. Image Source: http://img.timeinc.net/golf/i/tours/2007/12/dec_camillo_6_299x399.jpg.
[6] Imagine that I am on the other side of the trees that run alongside the course. I had to get the ball over the trees and had to make the ball shift from right to left in the air. This situation can be called a 'blind' shot since the target is not visible from where you hit your shot. Image Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshH3c5ok4pBODG5fiwde9lD474ktHwy2F8d6M_qmNic7X0NuyZtTstwBVqlgz-LQ6g8Fhyyri3vtKJ3rw_pGirxEJX0P3hegcKdqwM_mVbJxhLjmpUkekZbiJwBgr8VAaTgS77CaS7w/s1600-h/5555.JPG
[7] Vijay Singh in an advertisement for Eagles for St. Jude; he has been donating $5,000.00 for every eagle that he has made since 2004. Video Courtesy of Eagles for St. Jude; Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/v/aOe4iCPnI5I&hl=en&fs=1&.
[8] This is an picture of when the golfers finished their round of tournament play and decided to take advantage of the food that was provided for them. One golfer here has just received a free putter as a door prize in the event. Image courtesy of Author.
There are countless books; infinite combinations of ink and paper which have attempted to exact upon the role of a leader, and most importantly, to exact upon what it takes, and means, to be a leader. Why is so much energy, mainly time and money, being spent on such a simple quality? Is there no other quality present in people that deserves the same attention that leadership is given or is leadership simply one of the more desired traits in a person? I wondered on and on about this topic, and all the meanwhile, I was indulging in Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. By Stephen R. Covey https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSk8CWxtOBhBq101l-6BJ5ICRmcunU_XB3TpZ1nimyUbcO80l5tQNFl9yH8eF87r_oYYOz5X1oKS257PBj-a5Pa8yZaU3cBEkb6jqCJGT0xniHR2-lqr07a0f51RvPfFFWtcVPRMi3xQ/s1600-h/stephen-covey-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people.jpg
I thought of myself as a hypocrite. I agreed with Covey, but when I thought about applying some of the habits he talks about in his book, I couldn’t bring myself to even read one sentence out loud. In my mind, I could yell it out so loud that my eyes would become distracted from the reading. There is logic within Covey’s argument. All throughout India, people are aware of the Gandhi’s quote, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” I was extremely fascinated to see Covey strengthen the power of Gandhi’s words within me. Before even explaining the seven habits, Covey explains the importance of starting any change from the “inside-out” (Covey, 42). Covey explains his reasoning to be that our actions are determined by our perception of things. Gandhi went about making that statement because he wanted peace in the world; he became proactive. Gandhi promoted all sorts of non-violent methods through which he would help India to gain its independence, and he was successful because he started this change from within himself. I thought myself a hypocrite because I thought leadership was easy, but when I try to follow Gandhi, I can’t decide upon a change that I want to see in the world. I think leadership is just another simple quality, yet the hardest part about leadership is that I must first lead myself before I can take upon the role of a leader for a group.
I really love the fact that I could admit this to myself. The assigned reading on Covey forced me to realize that as a leader I must first understand the role of a leader. Is a leader necessary to keep order in a group or is the leader necessary to ensure that a group is headed in the right direction? Consider Covey’s use of Frank Koch’s article in the Proceedings, this article really identifies the perception affects decision. “[The Captain] spat out, ‘Send, I’m a battleship. Change course 20 degrees.’ Back came the flashing light, ‘I’m a lighthouse.’ [The battleship] changed course” (Covey, 33). Now, this captain was in a power struggle with another flashing light which he assumed was another ship, so as the captain of a battleship, he felt that he should not have to change course, but the moment he learned that the other flashing light was a lighthouse, not a ship, he immediately changed course. Using the same idea of perception, I asked myself, “What is a leader?” My first response was very simple. The leader must be a guide because others will be dependent upon the leader. When I moved to Austin, I didn’t know my way around town. My brother decided to drive me around town so that I could get a sense for my bearings. I was dependent on my brother for that entire trip. He was my guide, and without him, I wouldn’t have known how to get back home! He was my leader, and if there had been someone else in the car, then my brother would’ve been their leader as well. I think the most vital role of a leader is to make sure that the group continues to move in the right direction. I like making business connections, so imagine Apple to be a group, Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, would then be responsible for ensuring that Apple continues to make an annual profit.
Steve Jobs in an Interview. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidUo3mctLWKpDmPiVijbzSgtnKvPw8DlHJ83PCUgpnLUUKZxw2nyy2lPCSsHoEGY0rCA2uFuKsfvqBQLWIi9B4nvS8Pl2vJGKD40UUnxzmAKX1wHnvK9RGDUEpCQrjHhHqrRNvwFA9XA/s1600-h/steve-jobs.jpg
So a leader is the guide of a group, and in order for me to become a leader, I must start by “[becoming] the change I want to see in the world” (Gandhi). Covey states, “Any time you think the problem is out there, that very thought is the problem” (Anthology, 238). A leader must be proactive and start by first changing him-/herself. They must change their perception, and only then, will they be able to create a positive change in their environment. Gandhi was successful at this, and this very idea brings me to the last question. Why is leadership one of the more desired traits in a person? Leaders are perceived as being the people that cause change, like Gandhi, but the change is created by the masses who follow the leader. Gandhi had supporters who followed his principles; Gandhi was popular! Leadership is one of the more desirable traits in a person because leadership offers the opportunity to be remembered. Leadership offers a legacy; Covey arranges the four needs of people in a circular chart, and at the center of this chart, there is a need for the spirit “to leave a legacy” (Anthology, 230). A legacy offers glory, and the one person that always comes to mind when I think of legacy is Julius Caesar. His words shall always be remembered, “Veni, Vidi, Vici,” which means, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” When these words ring, like a siren, in my brain, I can relate with Caesar’s legacy, and a part of me would like for me to leave my own legacy so that people may remember me for generations to come.
Caesar has Conquered! https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY5CstYwdjioxlG_zLy1b9N9FBz4L3FcxOl5rlutuzm7KIQcGHObZ3ACBkK7xxpsQ7QJtbXEg5vZ-fxv_-A2MvouEOg3RhLxgtG6SsaahOoND9ZtR17j-jtaXPJe3_Qez8Yq6BMhsYA/s1600-h/caesar-d.jpg
After pondering for a short moment, at least 30 minutes, about what my legacy would be, I realize that I’m making an investment just thinking about leadership. As I sought to find the answer to my questions, I realize that I was actually creating a road which I may use to, one day, become a leader. I must know what a leader is and what his responsibilities are before I can decide if I want to be a leader. Now that I have a goal for myself, that “[I have begun] with the end in mind,” I can embark upon my journey to becoming a leader (Covey, 98). I feel like, with this investment of time and energy, I have arrived upon a great goal, and I also felt like I had acquired a new mental perspective; I had grown, intellectually. Again, I find myself indulging upon a quote, “Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment” (Covey, 62).
