The cognitive estrangement in science fiction literature
Cognitive estrangement, the purposeful or determined separation of a person from the rest of human society, was present in the science fiction literature since Wells'. In this direction of the sci-fi genre, the main protagonist develops his or her character by either drifting away from the rest of the human race, or returning to it, like the prodigal son of the Bible. However, since this was science fiction, some evidence of science - technology, pharmacy, etc. - was also present to emphasize the protagonist's struggle with his or her changing personality. Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and William Gibson's "Neuromancer" are separated by over twenty years of our time. Certainly, this chronological difference can be seen when reading the two novels, but there is something similar in the novels as well - their themes regarding science in regards to cognitive human estrangement.
One of the social problems that both books talk about is the hybridization of organic and inorganic, of man and machine. William Gibson's Molly is a "street samurai", a warrior for hire with grafted claws and optical shades that cover her eyes at all time. There is an old adage that says that eyes are windows to one's soul, and if that is the case, then the windows of Molly's soul got permanent blinds installed, cutting her from the rest of humanity. Molly is incapable of long-lasting social attachment, as she explains it to Case - "ITS TAKING THE EDGE OF MY GAME (...) IT'S THE WAY IM WIRED I GUESS" (Gibson, 267). In other words, Molly is scared of commitment, in part because of her misadventure with Johnny (ch. 15) - after losing him, she does not want to get hurt again, and her sci-fi cybernetic enhancements just enhance this quality. Gibson's heroine is a symbolic character: she ties the youths of Gibson's (and consecutive) generation with the androids of Philip K Dick's novel. Like the androids and Phil Resch, she is a "solitary predator"; like the real people, she has become detached from the rest of the society because of bad personal experiences, though she is not above having brief relationships with other humans, like the one she has with Case.
In Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", the androids - robot humans - are the "Others" of the sci-fi genre, same as us but at the same time, they are different. Sci-fi trappings aside, if the humans in the novel can consider their android counterparts are not so different from them, then their mistreatment of the androids is mistreatment and enslavement of humans by each other. (Considering that Philip K. Dick was born during the first half of the 20th century when slavery in USA was still remembered as reality rather than theory, and that when "Androids" was written the issue of human segregation was nowhere near being resolved, then this novel's message becomes especially poignant and socially acute.)
At any rate, the semi-subconscious realization of this state of affairs causes a lot of unease among the human characters of "Androids". Because of that unease, bounty hunting for androids was introduced, alongside with the Voigt-Kampff test. The problem is that by now the test is obsolete; apparently, it cannot completely differentiate between a "special" human (such as John Isidore) and an android. The real difference between the two, at least by Rick Deckard's initial standards, is the social empathy that humans supposedly have with each other, whereas an android is a "solitary predator", incapable of emotion or to socially interact both with other androids and "real humans". In other words, an android is a typical example of cognitive estrangement, a sign of inhumanity by standards of Deckard and possibly Philip K. Dick. Sadly, there are problems with this statement, as the book's narrative shows us. First, the new androids with the Nexus-6 brain do not fit that stereotype - they seem to co-operate, or at least co-exist with each other as well as humans when they need to (and they need to almost constantly). Second, there are also humans, such as Phil Resch and John Isidore's bosses, who fit in the mold of a cognitively estranged, emotionless, "solitary predator" as well as any android is supposed to. Finally, there are outsider people like John Isidore - apparently insane or mentally challenged; they do not fit with the mainstream human society as well. John Isidore, in particular, actually bonds with three of the renegade androids - something that he did not, or could not, do with regular humans.
The theme of what/who is a human, and what/who is not, entwines the theme of cognitive estrangement with the novum of human/robot confusion in the novels. In "Androids", Rick grows increasingly confused and unsettled as to who is human and who is not, as he meets humans who are as solitary and predatory as any android (Phil Resch), and androids who appear to be just as socially empathic as humans are (Rachel). Consequently, he grows further apart from his employers and co-workers who do not have this kind of a problem. In the end, he has a nervous breakdown, and he does not care that his toad is a robot - he no longer distinguishes between the real and the artificial, as they are practically identical to each other in his eyes. His initial empathy to other humans has vanished, replaced by a sort of a surrogate that enables him to say that androids have some sort of life as well. In "Neuromancer", there are no pure androids - robots in human shape; in their place are cyborgs such as Molly, Case, Riviera, etc - people who had technology installed in their bodies. On the other hand, there are the A.I.'s, artificial intelligences who seek to become more human-like by developing personalities of their own, not to mention legal rights for their selves and Flatlines - human personalities saved on disks, such Dixie, Case's former teacher. Where in "Androids", the machines only sought to become human and humans were unaware that they were becoming more machine-like, in "Neuromancer", the humans are conscious that they are becoming more machine-like and are proud of it, and the machines have become almost human in the end of the novel: the new Wintermute-Neuromancer A.I. will make sure of that.
Consequently, where in "Androids" the human society is already stretched thin, and the androids are just adding pressure to it, in "Neuromancer", there are no androids (the AI are computers rather than robots) and the entropy of society as a whole is not so prominent in the novel, either. On a more personal level, though, it is another story. Corto/Armitage, Case, Molly - they are all cognitively estranged from the rest of the humanity, particularly when it comes to commitment, and science (technology, pharmacy, etc) just make them worse.
The plot of "Androids" is centered primarily on Rick Deckard, who earns his wages mainly by hunting androids for bounty money, even though he has another, more regular job (but we never get to hear what it is). He also tries to hide this fact from his neighbors, such as Barbour, because apparently it is a social stigma, just like owning an Electric (robotic) animal instead of a real one; when Deckard admits that his own sheep, is, in fact, a robot, he breaks a major social rule (ch. 7). This differs sharply with the end of "Androids" where Deckard does not care that his toad is a robot: during the development of the novel's plot, he has lost his initial, already-shaky connection with the humans, and developed a mental shutdown. Deckard finally accepts surrogates in place of realism - everything and everyone is real to him now, just like it is for John Isidore.
Armitage, whose real name is Corto, is essentially a non-entity; an artificial personality grafted onto original, deteriorated one Corto. As Case learns, Corto has been first set up and betrayed by the Pentagon during the Screaming Fist military operation, and then he grew increasingly antisocial.
Case watched Corto work corporate defectors in Lisbon and Marrakesh, where he seemed to grow obsessed with the idea of betrayal (...) he surfaced in Thailand as overseer of a heroin factory. Then as enforcer for a California gambling cartel, then as a paid killer in the ruins of Bonn. He robbed a bank in Wichita. The record grew vague, shadowy, the gaps longer. (...) a man without identification was taken to a Paris mental health unit and diagnosed as schizophrenic. (84)
This is an obvious progress of cognitive estrangement, of drifting away from the rest of human society. Mentally, the scientifically created Corto personality repeats the physical fall-rise-fall of the Screaming Fist operative - the Pentagon rebuilds Armitage physically just as Wintermute rebuilt Corto mentally. In both cases, this backfires - first Armitage kills the aide he was assigned to, and then Corto turns onto Wintermute as his old personality resurfaces and essentially breaks away from the AI's plans in chapter 16. For all that, Corto/Armitage is sent into space, where he dies, alone to the end. Like Deckard, Corto/Armitage has become too disillusioned and estranged from the rest of the humanity, to the point where they can no longer function like normal members of the society. Consequently, Corto/Armitage perishes in space, abandoned by everyone, even Wintermute, and Deckard will probably suffer the fate of John Isidore - i.e. he will be employed for menial tasks only, barely better than the androids he used to hunt. That is price for him equalizing humans and androids - he stopped being a "real human" himself.
Finally, Case, or Henry Dorsett Case, (ch. 13) is an example of a human who is cognitively estranged from the society as Corto is, but in not-so-obvious way. He is a hacker - of cyberspace rather than just the Internet, as in real life. However, like any hacker, he is despondent without the `Net, no matter what kind it is. In fact, as Armitage claims in chapter 2, he is practically suicidal, just like Corto is, and his girlfriend, Linda, is not far off either. (ch. 2)
When Case is re-connected to the cybernet, though, he changes: "And flowed, flowed through him, fluid neon origami trick, the unfolding of his distanceless home, his country, transparent 3D chessboard extending to infinity." (52) Like many hackers, not very social in real life, once he hacks into the `Net, Case is at home and unperturbed, a normal human being, in other words. However, there Wintermute's sibling AI, the Neuromancer, waits. In chapter 21, Case and the Neuromancer meet face to face in cyberspace, where the Neuromancer offers Case a permanent escape into cyberspace, away from the world, with Linda (long dead in the real world) for company. What Neuromancer offers is death, another perfect culmination of cognitive estrangement, just like what Corto had. However, unlike Corto, Case finally rejects his solitude.
Even more so than Dick, in Gibson's opinion conscious cognitive estrangement leads to death, and Case is not ready to die yet. Furthermore, this is a turning point in his life, as he slowly begins to break free from his dependency of various science achievements as well (Cybernet, drugs) to alleviate his loneliness in real life, as he makes himself a social life - and it may not be a "happily-ever-after" ending, but it is happy enough. Life goes on, while in Dick's novel life is going to end.
There are little more than two decades of difference between the publications of "Androids" and "Neuromancer", yet the effect of this difference on the novels and their authors is great. The novel of Philip K. Dick ends on a pessimistic setting, as social bonds between the humans - the social empathy talked about in the beginning of the book - deteriorate, replaced by technological/scientific surrogates, represented by androids and electric sheep. On the other hand, William Gibson's "Neuromancer" ends on a more cautiously optimistic note, as the story's main hero, Case, seems to have broken free from his cybernet dependency (dependency on technology and drugs, in other words), and started a family of his own instead, implying that technology-induced social deterioration will end, before it is far too late. However, who is right - only our real-life future will tell.
Bibliography:
Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? New York: Ballantine Books, 1968.
Gibson, William. Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books, 1984