Meanings, meanings....

Going back to the title of the novel... do androids really dream of electric sheep? It is a curious quesiton that Phillip Dick raises, one that doesn't seem to be resolved even at the very end of the novel. But the fundamental question to be asked is not if one is human, but if one has life. What counts as life? At what point does the line of separation between real and artificial become blurred? After all, the Nexus-6 androids in the story seemed at times to exhibit far more of what are considered human qualities than the actual human beings in the story. They had warmth, bonding, and a drive to live life. What is it to live if not to appreciate it to its fullest extent? Like the old, if not somewhat corny saying goes, we have but one life to live; make the best of it. Honestly, machine or not, the ability to grasp the value of the time we have on earth might seem to be the most human/real thing of all. If you think about it, what true difference would there be between the perceived image of a cold, intelligent android and a human being that is just going through the motions without any desires or aspirations in life; it can be construed that the human is acting exactly like a machine: on automatic, without true awareness of his or her actions. In my personal opinion, the androids had a point when they said that the only thing that truly distinguished humans from androids was the ability to empathize and if Mercer proved to be false, there was nothing that authenticated this empathy except by the words of humans. What is there to say that it is not just another form of dominance and establishment of superiority? Life should never be labeled and categorized but just be. Whether compsed of organic compounds or manufactured circuitry, it is what you make of your conscious time that counts.