Sept 26 - Androids

I enjoyed reading Androids, though i don't think i would recommend the book to anyone i cared about (life is too short, no?)

I'm all for robots. Plus i really like Dick's short stories. The book just seemed so dry to me.

The book brought up a few interesting ideas, i guess. I mean would rather read it than Frankenstein.

Ok.

The idea of having animals as status symbols is at least somewhat interesting. It's the manifestation of a the idea of capitalism and individualism mixed with this world in which the new scarce commodity to have are animals. It's really not so different than today, though it certainly looks weird from the outset. Of course, I would say having an animal around has more intrinsic value than owning a $300 pair of jeans anyway. I suppose Dick is making the point that what we assign monetary and emotional value to as humans is quite arbitray to its utility to us, and more on how people (at least in the US) tend to gravitate towards modes of expression that distinguish our success and monetary worth.

Which is somewhat odd considering that in this world people have a switch that will allow them to feel any emotion they want. Again, it's the logical projection of all the various drugs that influence people's moods--anxiety, anti-depression, ADD, OCD, etc. I think Doctor's proscribe these drugs with good intentions and that people who take them obviously find some amount of short-term relief, but in the long run it seems like a complete suppression of authenticity and denial of problems. In the future, they can flip a dial. Now we can take drugs. Obviously (to me), the problem is not that people who are anxious need to be fixed, it's that our society is structured in such a way that large amounts of people are constantly in need of emotional balance and have no resources.

Phew.