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"Science fiction represents the modern heresy and the cutting edge of speculative imagination as it grapples with Mysterious Time---linear or non-linear time."
- Frank Herbert
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| Mood Organ | ||
| A device which allows you to dial the mood you would like to have. |
It is not clear, from the novel, exactly how the mood organ works. It seems to produce some sort of wave that acts selectively on different parts of the brain; the heart of the device is the Penfield Wave Transmitter.
In this excerpt, Rick Deckard is having an argument with his wife, and is looking for the right "tune" from his mood organ.
| At his console he hesitated between dialing for a thalamic suppressant (which would abolish his mood of rage) or a thalamic stimulant (which would make him irked enough to win the argument). "If you dial," Iran said, eyes open and watching, "for greater venom, then I'll dial the same." |
| Technovelgy from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Doubleday in 1968 Additional resources -
|
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a novel that makes use of androids (created beings that are organic, and are essentially identical to people). During the course of the novel, the reader is often moved have feelings about these artificial beings, and then forced to compare their feelings toward the "real" humans. The mood organ is a fascinating way for Dick to accomplish a kind of dehumanization of the fully human characters, blurring the distinctions for the reader.
Here is another quote that shows how the mood organ is used:
My favorite setting for the mood organ is 888, which creates the desire to watch TV no matter what is on. I seem to be able to manufacture whatever neurochemicals are necessary for this mood without resort to artifice, but, gosh, it would be nice if everyone could.
'So I left the TV sound off and I sat down at my mood organ and I experimented. And I finally found a setting for despair… So I put it on my schedule for twice a month; I think that's a reasonable amount of time to feel hopeless about everything...' How much time do you set aside each month for specific moods?"
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Mood Organ-related
news articles:
- Thync Mood Alteration Like PKD's Mood Organ
- Thync Mood-Changing Wearable Device
- Deep Brain Stimulation Soon Without Surgery
| Instant Journalists: Ordinary People With Cell Phones |
| Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts |
| Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million |
| California Governor Candidate Calls For Voting By Phone |
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'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
