Do Androids Look Like Humans Research Paper

Are We Actually That Different? Imagine a world where androids exist. Not the ones you’re probably picturing that actually look like robots. I’m talking about the ones that look human. The ones that act human. They may think like us, they could feel emotions like we do. But what does it even mean to be human? Is it possible to have a robot that is so humanlike you cannot tell the difference between human and machine? If this is to happen some day, what differences would there be between us? Unlike human beings, an android can be made to be perfect. Androids can be made different from human beings, but those qualities also make them superior. As well as being made different, they can also be made eerily similar. If humanlike androids were

Dick’s book ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ creates a world where expeditions to Mars have been completed, and humanlike androids exist, to the point where the variation between man and machine cannot be seen clearly. This book raises many questions, one being, what exactly does it mean to be human? Us as human beings, like to think that nothing could replace us, but an android could. An android could get work done much more efficiently. They could become a huge benefit to humanity. As shown in the movie Artificial intelligence, a humanlike android would not need sleep, food, or other basic necessities a human being needs. “You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is a basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation; this is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life. Everywhere in the universe.” (Dick 179) An old man tells Rick Deckard that everyone does wrong, every human being has flaws, you make mistakes. We all feel emotions due to the things going on in our lives. But a robot can be made to not do wrong, they can be made to think logically and complete what needs to be done, “Because, ultimately, the empathetic gift blurred the boundaries between hunter and victim, between the successful and the defeated.” (Dick 31) A robot, as said in ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ should not be able to feel

Us as human beings tend to fear change that could potentially affect us in a negative way. Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Cave’ shows these fears, humans want to believe that we are superior to all other beings. Some of us may actually fear these changes robots can bring, their superiority and the fact that they can take over a majority of the jobs on earth. Plato’s allegory shows prisoners being trapped in a cave unable to turn around, only being able to see shadows and hear sounds of things that pass by. When one prisoner escapes and sees the outside world, he returns to tell the others, who violently resist this discovery. This suggests that human beings resist change because we have been around one thing our entire lives. Robots can be made superior to human beings, which may put fear into someone's mind. What can also strike fear, is the fact that robots can also be made like a human, they could replace us someday. Although they could replace us though, does not mean that they will. “The most intriguing part of the antenna, though, is that it gives him an ability the rest of us don’t have…..He has not just matched ordinary human skills; he has exceeded them.” (Max, “How Humans Are Shaping Our Own Evolution”) This article presents the story of a man, Neil Harbisson, who cannot perceive color. He has had an antenna installed so he can see color again. As well as seeing color, Neil can now