In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (DADoDE) empathy is what distinguish humans from androids and In Caves of Steel (CoS) the first law governing robot’s artificial brains is to never hurt humans. CoS ends with a human and a robot walking out the door “arm-to-arm” because in that plot robots are programmed to respect and enhance human life. This possibility is negated DADoDE. The consequence is, naturally, that in DADoDE humans cannot associate with androids because in doing so they are risking their lives.

Psychopaths is an equivalent reference in our modern society. They are considered monsters, not-human. Laking the ability to empathize with other humans make them dangerous individuals that must be kept apart from society. As DADoDE emphasizes the empathy with animals is a good sign that a human care about others and he or she will nurture the development of the two species. Many psychopaths have the history of torturing and/or killing animals. We see that as a sign of lack of empathy and remorse. If more evidences confirm that, we  target that those people as threats.

The difference between the two sci-fi plots are the fact that a machine (android, robots) can be friendly or deadly. In CoS how they are built is what determines the relationship with humans. In DADoDE is an inherit defect of machines that dissociate them from humans.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (DADoES) mixes science fiction with existentialism and illustrate the human search for identity using other forms of existence as reference. DADoES    is a novel that very descriptively asserts the intertwined relationship between animals, humans, machines and god. In a post- apocalyptic future, the god is Mercer, the one who is compassionate and forbear offenders throwing rocks at him. On the other side of the spectrum, the main character of DADoES is a human named Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter. Rick is in search of his own identity which is constantly influenced by his relationship with androids, animals and god. Mainly, Rick chases and kills androids in order to get cash reward to buy a real animal. Having a real animal is a sign of empathy and high status. It’s believed that the fundamental difference between humans and androids is the human ability to empathize with others. Rick uses the Voigt-Kampff test to establish that difference but he also chooses to transgresses that barrier having sex with an android. At the end, Rick experiences being Mercer. All the distinctions are blurred and Ricks’ search leads him nowhere.

“Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep” by Philip K. Dick contains a lot of twists. It is one of the most interesting sci-fi stories I’ve ever read. I loved the intersection of another story (John Isidore’s), which is parallel to the main story (Dick’s), and how they relate at the end. Two stories have different paths, emotions and meanings, but they reunite to fit the missing puzzle pieces. We see how John and Dick are two different persons. The first has mental problems because of the nuclear explosion, and eager to have any relationship even with an android, as long as there is somebody who cares about him. The second is a bounty hunter who has house problems, because his wife believes in Mercerism, and needs the Penfield mood organ to fix her depressed and sad mood. And we see how both are attached to something that is not real, which is androids, (John attached to Pris, and Dick attached to his android sheep). This poses another theme in the book, which is intelligence vs. “chickenhead”, where it shows how both lives are, and how an intelligent person reacts in comparison to a “chickenhead”. It is a twist I love to see in movies, and for the first time I read it in a book which was unpredictable and fun.

One of the main themes than I noticed while reading “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep” by Philip K. Dick is empathy. Dealing with his job as bounty hunter, Dick had to have no empathy towards androids, especially the nexus-06. But throughout the story, we realize that Dick started to feel the empathy towards androids (humans and animal form), and that’s when he saw his fellow bounty hunter Phil killing an android with no mercy. So this twist of Dick’s emotions or feelings towards androids was impressive, especially that he was so eager to kill them in order to make money to buy an expensive animal. Not to forget that at the end, dick had an electrical toad, and was taking care of it as if it was real.

Both books portray androids as equals to humans in terms of abilities. However, these machines have surpassed their purpose as tools, and can blend into a population undetectable. This is obviously not the case for all robots, but when humanoid robots become or act human both physically and mentally, it presents a series of issues. With humans and robots in constant conflict, laws can be made to protect and may benefit these machines. This can lead to androids voicing their personal opinions and possibility voting. Programmable machines would not get this far, but androids that think on their own in an effort to become a justifiable part of society, may determine personal choices. In order to work along side humans, robots must be given human-like qualities, but can the ability for a machine to think freely benefit both sides?