🤖🐑Blade Runner Movie & Book Discussion

More Human Than Human: Blade Runner vs. Philip K. Dick Book
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe..."

This month, we are tackling both Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece, Blade Runner, and the novel that started it all, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Both works ask the same blunt question: What makes a person a person when memory can be manufactured and feeling can be faked?

### 🧠 What We’ll Explore

We will dive deep into the philosophical and ethical divergences between the text and the screen:

• Personhood: If a replicant loves, remembers, and creates, what rights should it have?
• Memory & Identity: Deckard’s doubt in the Final Cut, implanted memories, and the nature of real choice.
• Empathy & Consent: The Voight-Kampff test and the ethics of the Deckard–Rachael dynamic.
• Corporate Sovereignty: The Tyrell Corporation as a maker of minds and the exertion of private power over public life.
• Book vs. Film: The contrast between the book’s focus on Mercerism/electric animals vs. the film’s "tears in rain" and ambiguous ending.

### 📝 How We’ll Do It

To ensure a high-quality discussion, printed notes for both the film and novel will be provided.

• The Primer: We will start with an 8-minute primer and a one-page summary to refresh everyone’s memory.
• The Discussion: We will move through guided prompts on the themes above, followed by an open floor debate.

### 📍 The Details

• Date: Sunday, December 21
• Time: 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
• Location: Vancouver Central Library — Level 4 North (Meeting Room 492)
• Capacity: Strictly limited to 15 people to keep the conversation focused.