For all the adventure movies and kung fu films that present an image of
'good guys' and 'bad guys', the vast majority of difficult situations people
suffer from result from the interrelationship of their own imbalance with
the imbalance of their adversary.
Your hard blow cannot strike home on my chest unless I stiffen it in
resistance.
The most effective form of self defence is learning to remove the buttons
that my myriad of daily 'attackers' push to throw me off-balance.
(Wolfe Lowenthal)
Empathy test
In the film Blade Runner, a test was applied to determine
whether or not somebody was human.
It was called the 'Voigt-Kampff Test'; and was a kind of futuristic lie
detector.
The original idea came from a Philip K Dick story called Do Androids
Dream of Electric Sheep?
The purpose of the test was to determine how empathic an
individual was; to gauge their capacity to feel.
Certain stimuli produce an
emotional or
physiological reaction.
A series of questions were asked in order to provoke an involuntary
response: facial blushing, changes in the iris or hyperventilation.
What is human?
Philip K Dick's story had little to do with androids and everything
to do with being human.
It asked:
What makes a person human?
How would you define humanity?
These questions are very relevant to
taoism
since 'te'
(or virtue) considers the unique qualities and characteristics of every
individual facet of existence: the dogness in dog, the treeness in tree, the waterness in water and the
humanity in human.
Philip K Dick felt that our capacity to
feel was the best reflection of our humanity.
How human are you?
The Voigt-Kampff Test may be imaginary but how we respond to stimuli is
real.
People say things to us and we react in different ways.
Applying the principle of the Voigt-Kampff Test to yourself can be an
interesting exercise in seeing how your
mind responds to external stimuli.
By placing your
awareness in the
immediate and
considering your
response to stimuli, you can determine the root of emotional tendencies.
Do you empathise?
Once you have become aware of your reactions, go deeper.
Figure out why you respond in a particular way - it will help you to know
yourself, to uncover your
conditioning and
your
prejudices.
Why does a certain thing upset you?
Are you
really
bothered or is it just a
conceit?
Do you concern yourself with real-world problems or hypothetical ones?
What is your capacity for
compassion, and
do you demonstrate it?
Voigt-Kampff questions
These were some of the questions used in the film Blade Runner:
Holden:
You’re in a
desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you
see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise
over on its back. 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?
Holden:
Describe in single words, only the good things
that come into your mind about your mother.
Some more questions:
Deckard:
You are given a calfskin wallet for your birthday...
Rachael:
I wouldn't accept it, also I'd report the person who gave it
to me to the police.
Deckard: You've got a little boy. He shows you his butterfly collection plus
the killing jar.
Rachael:
I'd take him to the doctor.
Deckard:
You're watching television. Suddenly you realize there's a wasp
crawling on your arm.
Rachael: I'd kill it.
Deckard:
You're reading a magazine. You come across a full-page nude photo
of a girl.
Rachael: Is this testing whether I'm a replicant or a lesbian, Mr. Deckard?
Deckard:
Just answer the questions, please. You show it to your husband. He
likes it so much he hangs it on your bedroom wall. The girl is lying on a
bearskin rug.
Rachael: I wouldn't let him.
Deckard:
Why not?
Rachael: I should be enough for him.
Deckard:
One more question. You're watching a stage play. A banquet is in
progress. The guests are enjoying an appetizer of raw oysters. The entree
consists of boiled dog.
Page created 15 January 1999