Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, 1968.

A quick read. The writing itself is what I would call, functional, that is, it does the job but nothing else.

Set in 2021 after the World War, earth is full of radioactive dust, abandoned buildings slowly crumble, and debris or "kipple" encroaches into every living space. Most humans, encouraged by the government, have emigrated to Mars. Animals are scarce and ownership of one, depending on their rarity, signifies social status. Androids, built to ease life on Mars, become nearly indistinguishable from humans. Several kill their human owners and flee to Earth.

Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter of rogue androids who've escaped to earth. He identifies them through an empathy test which is comprised of questions about dead animals. Appropriate verbal answers as well as speed and physical response times are measured.

We find that empathy and later, the will to live even in hopeless situations, are what distinguishes human from android.

This book inspired the movie Blade Runner. I watched that movie ages ago but remember little of it. An image of a very tall Daryl Hannah with wet hair comes to mind. The premise of Philip's book is good, and I wanted to know more of how people lived, both on Mars and on Earth; however, the book, as it should be perhaps, was focused on the "android/robot" literary conundrum: where does the dividing line lie?

Yes, as foretold by many a science fiction and Japanese anime writer, we will one day make androids who will be as human as we are. Whatever criteria we deem as requisite to be human, androids will satisfy them at some point. It's not that bad! Obviously there will be bad robots, but there will be good ones too -- look at Wall-E.