GLOSSARY
BLADE RUNNER — The nickname given to those police detectives who are specially trained in the use of the Voight-Kampff machine and whose specific function is to track down and eliminate any replicants that manage to escape into human society and attempt to pass as real human beings. The official name of the Blade Runner division is Rep-Detect.
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?: Novel. The bounty hunter Rick Deckard is called in to retire a number of escaped replicants after they have killed one of his collegues. Much of the novel concerns what it means to be human and uses comparisions between humans, replicants and specials to illuminate this subject. He also puts in a couple of machines (Mercer, Empathy box) to reduce the distinction between humans and others even more.
Made into the film Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott. But you knew that already.
EMPATHY BOX: A device used to merge with MERCER
MERCER: An entity that humans «merge» with using an empathy box. By showing that they are able to empathize with another person, they also show that they are not androids. The grim gag here is that to prove you are human, you have to empathise with a machine.
MERCERISM: a prominent religious/philosophical movement on Earth. The movement is based on the fable of WILBUR MERCER, a man who lived before the war. Adherents of Mercerism grip the handles of an electrically powered EMPATHY BOX, while viewing a monitor which displays patterns that are meaningless until the handles are gripped. After a short interval the user’s senses are transported to the world of Wilbur Mercer, where they inhabit his mind in an experience shared with any other people using an empathy box at that moment. Mercerism blends the concept of a life-death-rebirth deity with the values of unity and empathy. According to legend, Mercer had the power to revive dead animals, but local officials used radioactive cobalt to nullify the part of his brain where the ability originated. This forced Mercer into the «tomb world.» He strives to reverse the decay of the tomb world and ascend back to Earth by climbing an enormous hill. His adversaries throw rocks at him along the way, until Mercer reaches the top, when the cycle starts again.
MOOD ORGAN: A device that one can set to change one’s own moods. This means that you are like a machine- if you are fed the right input you will respond in a predictable way. And if your moods can be altered, what makes you different from any other machine?
NEXUS-6: The new and improved replicant, just introduced. Rush out and get some for YOUR off-world mine.
REPLICANTS: Androids. They are used by humans as slave labor on other planets. Sometimes they escape and get down to Earth where they are hunted
down by bounty hunters. One distinguishing feature of replicants compared to humans is that they are supposedly not able to empathize with others.
A genetically engineered creature composed entirely of organic substance. Animal replicants (animoids) were developed first for use as pets and beasts of burden after most real animals became extinct. Later, humanoid replicants were created for military purposes and for the exploration and colonization of space. The Tyrell Corp. recently introduced the Nexus 6, the supreme replicant — much stronger and faster than, and virtually indistinguishable from, real human beings. Earth law forbids replicants on the planet, except in the huge industrial complex where they are created. The law does not consider replicants human and therefore accords them no rights nor protection.
RETIRE: Kill (used of escaped replicants). You can’t say you’re killing them because then you would have to admit that they were once alive. And if they were alive, they were definitley sentient beings….
SPECIALS: Humans whose genes have deteriorated due to radiation. They are considered subhuman by non-specials. They are not allowed to emigrate off-planet. A typical Dickian Underclass – note that this underclass is called SPECIAL and not disabled/mutants etc- very PC!
VOIGT-KAMPFF TEST: The test that is used to differentiate replicants from real human beings.
VOIGHT-KAMPFF MACHINE: A very advanced form of lie detector that measures contractions of the iris muscle and the presence of invisible airborne particles emitted from the body. The bellows were designed for the latter function and give the machine the menacing air of a sinister insect. The VK is used primarily by blade runners to determine if a suspect is truly human by measuring the degree of his empathic response through carefully worded questions and statements.
Answer the questions:
Why is Facebook in the spotlight? What did it have to do recently? Why?
Who is Sophia?
What does Sophia joke about?
What is Elon Musk concerned about?
What is Musk’s company? Why is it important?
What is Zuckerberg’s opinion about AI?
How are Musk and Zuckerberg related?
How are their opinions about AI different?
