I agree. When reading "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" I was surprised that some sort of rights movement for the androids hadn't yet sprung up. The androids were extremely human-like and yet were essentially held within a system of slavery. History seems to indicate, however, that empathy is reduced when people are regarded as sub-human. I suspect this is what allowed systems of slavery to persist and thrive in many societies. I also suspect that this is the reason authorities were so keen to uphold the distinction between human and android; it allowed a profitable system to persist despite our empathetic tendencies.
You are so correct in observing that empathy is reduced when people are regarded as sub-human. From a conflict resolution perspective, one of the main ways people drum up their populaces into war is by creating a widespread image of said enemy as sub-human. Americans used to be taught that Russians ate babies, during the cold war! And 8 out of 10 Americans will tell you that Muslims are terrorists, at least where I live.
Kacie, you bring up a really interesting point and that’s how we have always declared certain groups of people as “subhuman.” Forget about androids; our society still struggles with empathizing with fellow humans. This shows there is a human tendency to always make comparisons and value judgments between ourselves and those we perceive as “less” than us.
Alli, I think this commercial shows us how empathy can be induced in us, regardless of the subject. There’s the melancholy music, the pattering rain, the dreary sky. This commercial was directed at our senses. Imagine if there was instead inspirational music and the shinning sun, showing the lamp’s renewed sense of life and adventure as it was picked up by a child; we would have a story of hope and catharsis. Empathy is also a product of manipulation. In class, Lincoln pointed out that ASIMO’s features and mannerisms are modeled after a child. If it is so easy for us to be manipulated into feeling empathy, perhaps it is something we should also be weary of.
Yes Aya, I believe Asimo is far and away the most sinister of the three robots we saw in class. Atlas is obvious about its military purposes and therefore easily categorizable. Big Dog is a pack animal. Asimo is a not at all a child, yet triggers our child instinct, one of the most powerful instincts we have. Imagine a terminator in the form of a child... Of course with the right programming Asimo will help the elderly, as it is probably being designed for. Nevertheless our instincts deceive us with Asimo.
I would definitely agree with the ideas this advertisement brings up. It's very easy for us to empathize even with inanimate objects and or things that we might even feel silly about empathizing with. However the end of the commercial brings up an interesting point which is very important to the novel. The man basically says that we're crazy for feeling bad for the lamp because it doesn't' have feelings. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep the biggest separation between the humans and the androids is that the androids do not feel empathy, essentially just like the lamp they don't have emotions the same way humans do. Because of this it is ok to disregard them and treat them worse based on the same distinction the IKEA man makes with the lamp. I actually thought it was really interesting to have this parallel between a futuristic novel and the same rationale we use offhand today.
I also think this would be the same rationale used to prevent the rights movement Kacie mentioned. Having any commonly accepted reason allows the public to place the androids in a strictly defined subhuman box and perpetuate the system they have grown accustomed to but without the uncomfortable rational of profitability or comfort. Having the justification lifts the blame that people could feel because of their empathy. The more realistic reasons for not wanting the android to have rights would make people seem selfish or cruel so they use a more abstract idea (androids don't have real feelings) to justify not only to others but especially for their own minds and consciences.
Concerning empathy more generally, and responding also to Sara's post, I'd like to mention here. Poets often see things we technologists (scientists and engineers) don't. For example, in Rilke's work, the Things Themselves are always speaking to him, full of life. From the first elegy in Duino Elegies: "Yes -- the springtimes needed you. Often a star / was waiting for you to notice it. A wave rolled toward you / out of the distant past, or as you walked / under an open window, a violin / yielded itself to your hearing." This reverence for things is, if not empathy, a kind of deep respect. We experience it when we care for something we love. And a thing that has been cared for in such a way comes to have its own emotional content: a child's teddy bear, threadbare, one-eyed; a teenager's car, every surface of the engine gleaming, the backseat telling stories; a grandmother's favorite vase that held the flowers her husband, now dead, brought her every day for fifty years. When we don't care for the things around us, we stop caring for ourselves, seeing ourselves.
Lincoln brings up an interesting point about caring for the objects around us. Couldn't this care and consideration be extended to androids (especially if they care for us or our families)? Even though they would not be "alive" wouldn't we still care about their feelings? I know as a child, in my mind, my toys had feelings. I felt guilty when I didn't put them away nicely (thrown around, lying on their faces, etc.). Especially since androids like Asimo remind us of our inner child, wouldn't that help combat what could be discrimination towards "lesser forms" by bringing elements of care into the equation?
I agree. When reading "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" I was surprised that some sort of rights movement for the androids hadn't yet sprung up. The androids were extremely human-like and yet were essentially held within a system of slavery. History seems to indicate, however, that empathy is reduced when people are regarded as sub-human. I suspect this is what allowed systems of slavery to persist and thrive in many societies. I also suspect that this is the reason authorities were so keen to uphold the distinction between human and android; it allowed a profitable system to persist despite our empathetic tendencies.
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DeleteYou are so correct in observing that empathy is reduced when people are regarded as sub-human. From a conflict resolution perspective, one of the main ways people drum up their populaces into war is by creating a widespread image of said enemy as sub-human. Americans used to be taught that Russians ate babies, during the cold war! And 8 out of 10 Americans will tell you that Muslims are terrorists, at least where I live.
DeleteKacie, you bring up a really interesting point and that’s how we have always declared certain groups of people as “subhuman.” Forget about androids; our society still struggles with empathizing with fellow humans. This shows there is a human tendency to always make comparisons and value judgments between ourselves and those we perceive as “less” than us.
ReplyDeleteAlli, I think this commercial shows us how empathy can be induced in us, regardless of the subject. There’s the melancholy music, the pattering rain, the dreary sky. This commercial was directed at our senses. Imagine if there was instead inspirational music and the shinning sun, showing the lamp’s renewed sense of life and adventure as it was picked up by a child; we would have a story of hope and catharsis. Empathy is also a product of manipulation. In class, Lincoln pointed out that ASIMO’s features and mannerisms are modeled after a child. If it is so easy for us to be manipulated into feeling empathy, perhaps it is something we should also be weary of.
Yes Aya, I believe Asimo is far and away the most sinister of the three robots we saw in class. Atlas is obvious about its military purposes and therefore easily categorizable. Big Dog is a pack animal. Asimo is a not at all a child, yet triggers our child instinct, one of the most powerful instincts we have. Imagine a terminator in the form of a child... Of course with the right programming Asimo will help the elderly, as it is probably being designed for. Nevertheless our instincts deceive us with Asimo.
DeleteI would definitely agree with the ideas this advertisement brings up. It's very easy for us to empathize even with inanimate objects and or things that we might even feel silly about empathizing with. However the end of the commercial brings up an interesting point which is very important to the novel. The man basically says that we're crazy for feeling bad for the lamp because it doesn't' have feelings. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep the biggest separation between the humans and the androids is that the androids do not feel empathy, essentially just like the lamp they don't have emotions the same way humans do. Because of this it is ok to disregard them and treat them worse based on the same distinction the IKEA man makes with the lamp. I actually thought it was really interesting to have this parallel between a futuristic novel and the same rationale we use offhand today.
ReplyDeleteI also think this would be the same rationale used to prevent the rights movement Kacie mentioned. Having any commonly accepted reason allows the public to place the androids in a strictly defined subhuman box and perpetuate the system they have grown accustomed to but without the uncomfortable rational of profitability or comfort. Having the justification lifts the blame that people could feel because of their empathy. The more realistic reasons for not wanting the android to have rights would make people seem selfish or cruel so they use a more abstract idea (androids don't have real feelings) to justify not only to others but especially for their own minds and consciences.
Concerning empathy more generally, and responding also to Sara's post, I'd like to mention here. Poets often see things we technologists (scientists and engineers) don't. For example, in Rilke's work, the Things Themselves are always speaking to him, full of life. From the first elegy in Duino Elegies: "Yes -- the springtimes needed you. Often a star / was waiting for you to notice it. A wave rolled toward you / out of the distant past, or as you walked / under an open window, a violin / yielded itself to your hearing." This reverence for things is, if not empathy, a kind of deep respect. We experience it when we care for something we love. And a thing that has been cared for in such a way comes to have its own emotional content: a child's teddy bear, threadbare, one-eyed; a teenager's car, every surface of the engine gleaming, the backseat telling stories; a grandmother's favorite vase that held the flowers her husband, now dead, brought her every day for fifty years. When we don't care for the things around us, we stop caring for ourselves, seeing ourselves.
ReplyDeleteLincoln brings up an interesting point about caring for the objects around us. Couldn't this care and consideration be extended to androids (especially if they care for us or our families)? Even though they would not be "alive" wouldn't we still care about their feelings? I know as a child, in my mind, my toys had feelings. I felt guilty when I didn't put them away nicely (thrown around, lying on their faces, etc.). Especially since androids like Asimo remind us of our inner child, wouldn't that help combat what could be discrimination towards "lesser forms" by bringing elements of care into the equation?
ReplyDelete