Lately, I've been hearing a lot about psychopaths. I think it all started Jarred Loughner and his deadly shooting rampage at Rep. Gabby Giffords constituent outreach event. Loughner sits in prison and said to be mentally ill with psychopathic tendencies, thus he is unable to stand trial. Then, I heard an episode of This American Life called The Psychopath Test and learned that one of the common traits of psychopathy is lack of empathy and remorse. This test - the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) - asks a series of questions about a person’s history. Through the responses one is supposed to be able to tell whether or not a person is a psychopath. This test is often given to criminals involved in murder cases. If the test results show that the person is a psychopath, their chances of ever getting parole are greatly diminished. There is a belief (with some supporting evidence) that those who score high on the PCL-R have no chance of recovery - they cannot change their destructive and un-empathetic behaviors because they were born with them. I got an eerie sensation when I realized the PCL-R was very similar to the Voight-Kampff test in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – a former Dead Authors Book Club pick. It is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel that asks a seemingly simple question "what does it mean to be a human?" In the same way, our criminal justice system gives the PCL-R to possible psychopaths, the police and bounty hunters in Electric Sheep give the Voight-Kampff test to potential androids.
In the film Blade Runner (based on Electric Sheep), some of the Voight-Kampff questions are are:
In the film Blade Runner (based on Electric Sheep), some of the Voight-Kampff questions are are:
1. You’ve got a little boy. He shows you his butterfly collection plus the killing jar. What do you do?
2.You’re watching television. Suddenly you realize there’s a wasp crawling on your arm.
3. You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, Tony, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back, Tony. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?
4. Describe in single words, only the good things that come into your mind about your mother.
2.You’re watching television. Suddenly you realize there’s a wasp crawling on your arm.
3. You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, Tony, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back, Tony. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?
4. Describe in single words, only the good things that come into your mind about your mother.
These tests are strikingly similar. Both ask deliberately worded questions and the answers are carefully judged. The goal is to judge empathetic responses and determine whether they are sincere or feigned by looking at physiological changes. Both tests look for emotional responses rather than intelligent ones because while androids and psychopaths are often very smart and cunning, they are unable to fake empathetic reactions. If the subject fails the test people are often kept in prison or, in the case of Electric Sheep, the androids are “retired”. And, like the many critics of the PCL-R, Dick writes to question whether the Voight-Kampff is a necessary evil and questions the ability to empathize as a trait found in all humans.
I have always thought science fiction writers were sort of paranoid - they have the catastrophic thoughts of the literature world. It was not until I considered the similarities between these tests that I realized that science fiction can be seen as a cautionary tale of what to look for when things have gone dangerously wrong in our society.
I know that Phlip K. Dick was not thinking of the PCL-R when he wrote Electric Sheep (it predates the test). But, it was certainly forward thinking and begs the question - is empathy the trait that makes a person human? If so, does this mean psychopaths, like androids, are not human? Or, is this really about us? When our society shows a lack of empathy for psychopaths or ostracizes a group of people, does that make us non human too? And finally, what did Philip K. Dick know that we don't?
I know that Phlip K. Dick was not thinking of the PCL-R when he wrote Electric Sheep (it predates the test). But, it was certainly forward thinking and begs the question - is empathy the trait that makes a person human? If so, does this mean psychopaths, like androids, are not human? Or, is this really about us? When our society shows a lack of empathy for psychopaths or ostracizes a group of people, does that make us non human too? And finally, what did Philip K. Dick know that we don't?
Written by Amanda Patrick
It's interesting that the test in the book is to catch instant reactions among the Replicants, because if you give them time they can fake empathy. Is the same true for psychopaths? Can they fake their way through society? And does that explain Nate?
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