DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? by Philip K. Dick | Review and Analysis

[@ParkerNotes]

Bro, my favorite book. Literally have the Bob Pepper cover tattooed on my left forearm 😂

[@iWizard]

Dude, I knew you loved PKD. Maybe when we chat today, you could tell me where to go next with him. Also, I thought of you when I made the Big Idea Segment (at the end) of this video-property dualism vs. physicalism, p-zombies, Nagel, existentialism vs. teleology, etc. Talk to you soon. :)

[@ParkerNotes]

@@iWizard I'm half way through, I was listening at the gym bit it was too good so I had to turn it off so I could finish my lift haha. I'll finish before our convo. Pumped to talk again man

[@tehrealoneill]

Powerful stuff to think about, iWizard. With sci-fi in particular, these are the themes I remember and think about often. You really sold me

[@iWizard]

Glad to hear it, man! Yes, I love SF that grapples with philosophical and political themes. Thanks for watching! :)

[@blacknbluecollarreader]

This was an awesome video man. I'm finishing this one up tonight actually. Funny, I was going to hit you up on FB and ask you about the Empathy Box. I didn't fully grasp it's purpose in the book until last night after reading the scene when Deckard returns with the goat. Your absolutely right, John Isidor is an exceptional and layered character. His presence just adds so much to themes presented in this book. Again, amazing review Sir.

[@iWizard]

Oh, awesome! Yeah, the empathy box was a cool concept and I'm glad you found Isidore as fascinating as I did. What an idiosyncratic person. I'm still not sure why his society deems him unintelligent. He's smarter than at least 50% of the people I know. Thanks for watching, brother!

[@someokiedude9549]

I think what makes PKD so good is he talks about these subjects like reality, perception, what makes us human, and these postmodern ideas in everyday language. He took Campbell's adage about making the magical mundane and the mundane magical and ran with it to its logical conclusion. I'm also just a sucker for AI and questions about what it means to be human stories, and PKD did it like few others could. My personal favorite of his works is still A Scanner Darkly, but Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep comes close. Great video as always Jordan.

[@iWizard]

Yes, I very much agree about the Campbell adage. "Make the marvelous seem mundane and the mundane will seem marvelous." Something to that effect. I'm with you. I, too, really like when SF engages with those robust philosophical themes. Also, I thought I'd mention, I'm probably going to do your tag video at some point this summer.

[@samm8190]

Very edifying as always Jordan! Thanks for the video. Helped bring a bit more clarity to the book for me. For me Philip K Dick will always be only the second place author most in need of a pen name. Number one has to be Michael Moorcock. 😅😅

[@iWizard]

Thanks for watching, Sam! And yes, ha! The author does have a rather unfortunate last name, doesn't he? It's actually why I didn't include his name in the title. I didn't want KZbin to shadowban me. :)

[@MacScarfield]

I have only read a graphic novel adaptation (and seen a couple of the versions of «Blade Runner»), so you have definitely got me interested to read the original story! I believe an often used quote about PKD is that he is «CS Lewis on drugs»: He often changed his views on the spiritual and humanity, but there is a cord of empathy and humanity as you stated, even at his lowest and most high-strung. Your point on the irony of killing those without empathy, of something done for «the greater good» creating a new (and prehaps even larger) evil, could have come right out of CS Lewis, here in the voice. In addition to the Noir influence and the subject on immigration, have also heard comparisons to the Pre-Civil War «Slave Catchers» of escaped black slaves (viewed as «property» or «chattel» by their owners) and the concept of «passing» as «white». There are elements of Eugenics in the treatment of both the Specials and the Androids (who I would say also owe a lot to the Robot Trilogy by Isaac Asimov). As for the use of drugs, I think PKD was extrapolating from his own 60s, when not only the hippie were experimenting but also many their parents, working husbands and housewifes who were either proscribed or abused drugs to deal with Post-Traumatic Stress (many veterans of WW2, the Korean War and the Contemporary Vietnam War), being overworked, depressed, etc, And taking it to its logical extreme, which today is indeed not that far off. Loads to think about, for sure!

[@iWizard]

Wow, I didn't even know there was a graphic novel version. Yes, C.S. Lewis on drugs is actually a pretty apt comparison. Also, I really like that you dug even deeper---yes, I probably should have considered Pre-Civil War slave catchers, passing as white, etc. Thanks for watching! :)

[@Mr_two]

Great video dude!

[@iWizard]

Thanks for watching! Cheers!

[@mikesbookreviews]

Still hoping to get this one in this year.

[@iWizard]

You, in particular, would LOVE this book. I figured you'd already read it. Both very similar and very different from Blade Runner. Can't wait to hear what you think!

[@nightlogic1]

Nice job man! When you spun off into philosophical zombies, you bought to mind “Blindsight” by Peter Watts (which I highly, highly recommend). In the novel he discusses the nature of consciousness, and his Pinocchio theory addresses humans without cognitive consciousness. It would definitely interest you. Additionally, while his aliens are more intelligent and more advanced than human beings, they are entirely devoid of consciousness or sentience. Some amazing insight in Blindsight.

[@iWizard]

You are now like the 10th person to recommend Blindsight, so I will 100% be reading it, possibly even this month.

[@KhaymanSmith]

PKD rules. The thing with the Androids and Isidore's spider was creepy. And then Deckard's goat. That got my grey matter going until then i wasn't sure if the Andys were "good" but after those events i knew.

[@iWizard]

Yeah, PKD does rule. I was blown away by how good this book was. Also, true that. The spider thing was super creepy.

[@KhaymanSmith]

Electric Sheep was my first PKD book. Won't be the last. A Scanner Darkly is the other one I have now, but I'm sure there will be others. I'm really looking forward to your thoughts on The Warrior Prophet.

[@rpmfla]

To each their own, but I wouldn't rate Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep in the top 5 PKD books (so far my favorite by far is Ubik). While the concepts are fascinating, the story is written in a disjointed way that is difficult to get into, there is very little character development, and I felt that the whole Mercerism element should have either been expanded or left out.

[@iWizard]

Thanks for this. I haven't actually read any other PKD, so any recommendations you have would be much appreciated. My wife read Ubik and was blown away, so maybe I go there next.

[@rpmfla]

@@iWizard I read Man in the High Castle (after enjoying the tv series...except for the ending) and then read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner being my favorite sci-fi film), and was disappointed with both books. I thought they both had interesting ideas but I couldn't get immersed due to the writing style, and I thought PKD was just not for me. Then I happened across this video by a person who felt similar to me... kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXqpeJ5_j8p_qZYsi=ne7yqQzNmxaIqUTa&t=768 So I gave Ubik a try and loved it. The pacing and narrower focus, along with the quirkiness of the writing reminded me of a favorite author from long ago, Harlan Ellison.