Do Androids Pulverize Tiger Bones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
Author(s): Simon A. Cole
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Social Text, No. 42 (Spring, 1995), pp. 173-193
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/466669 .
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Do Androids PulverizeTiger Bones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
TheTragedyof Extinction SimonA. Cole
On Uncompahgreand Red Cloud Peaks in the San Juanmountainsof
is becomingextinct.The
Colorado, theUncompahgrefritillary
butterfly
never
should
have
been
therein the firstplace.
Uncompahgrefritillary
The climatewas perfectly
habitable10,000 yearsago duringtheIce Age,
butthebutterfly
failedto retreatwiththeglaciersand endedup trappedin
the mountains,thousandsof milesfromits properarcticclimate.Facing
several consecutiveyears of warm weather,the butterflyhas steadily
climbedthe mountainin searchof cooler climes.Now it has reachedthe
top,and it can climbno more;it'sbeingecologicallysqueezed offthetop.
When the end finallycomes, say conservationbiologists,theUncompahwillbe merelyone of hundredsof simultaneously
gre fritillary
occurring
extinctionsthatwe happen to notice.In short,thissortof thinghappens
all the time.The Uncompahgrefritillary
servesas a synecdocheforthe
phenomenonof mass extinction.
The specificity
is poignant,the generality
tragic,but the questionis:
is
it
us?
the
answer
is being provided and
why
tragicfor
Increasingly,
packaged forus by science,representedby a disciplineknownas conservationbiology.What do conservationbiologistsdo? One thingtheydo is
theotheris to chronicletheiroccurrence.In the
tryto preventextinctions;
words of Hugh Britten,a conservationbiologistat the Nevada Biodiver"I am presityResearchCenterwho studiestheUncompahgrefritillary,
siding over the extinctionof this species."' Like priests,shamans,and
oracle interpreters,
conservationbiologistshave constructeda positionof
withinsocietyby "presiding"overdeath,in this
for
themselves
authority
case over deaths imbued with a special significance.They have been
and any of us who
largelysuccessfulin creatinga cult(ure)of extinction,
feela pang when we thinkabout the extinctionof, say,the tiger,panda,
rhinoceros,whale, or elephantmust considerourselvesincluded.2As in
the Hair Club for Men, conservationbiologistsmay preside over the
cult(ure) of extinction,but they are also members.The responses to
extinctionwhichtheyhelp us shape are also theirown.
The firstresponseconservation
biologistsmightofferwouldprobably
to
our
own
in a finitechemical resource.
economic
self-interest
appeal
"The loss of any species shouldbe considereda tragedy,"says E. O. Wilson. Why?Because
a millionto ten
everyorganism-animal,
plant,microorganism-contains
in to existence
billionbitsofinformation
in itsgeneticcode,hammered
by
an astronomical
number
andepisodesinnatural
ofmutations
selection.3
But conceivingspecies as information
capitalseems a rathercrass justificationforpreservingthem,as some conservationbiologists,who see economic argumentsas unnecessaryconcessionsto a materialist
ethic,readA
for
on
admit.4
second
reason
the
is
based
ily
tragedy
feelingratherthan
of
reason. We are somehowmoved by the slow death the Uncompaghre
But why?At bottom,extinctionis merelythe death of an indifritillary.
vidual,a commonenoughoccurrencein a brutalworld,but somethingin
an extinctioncompelsa strongerresponse,akinto empathy.
It is the lastbutterfly,
like George Schaller's"last panda,"'5thatprovokesan empathicresponsein itshumanobservers.It is theidea of being
thelast of one's kindthatwe findso disconcerting.
This is a lonelinesswe
would not wish upon ourselves,as we are remindedwhen we read the
storyofIshi,"thelastwildIndianin NorthAmerica."6Ishi livedhiswhole
life as a member of a dwindlingband of Yahi tryingto survivethe
and further
encroachmentofwhitesettlersocietyby retreating
further
up
the slope of Mount Lassen, in much the same manneras the Uncompaghrefritillary.
Followingthedeathofhis mother,Ishi spentan unknown
period of time,possiblyas long as threeyears,alone. Althoughunaware
thathe was "thelastwildIndian,"Ishi musthaveunderstoodthatin some
wayhe was thelastYahi.
In thoselast yearsin the wild,Ishi personifiesthe tragedyof extinction.His situationis analogousto thatof thelastUncompaghrefritillary.
Alone, trapped,pursued by climatesor culturesthattheyonly vaguely
understand,neithercan finda way of going on. By "going on," I mean
both continuingto struggleas an individualand reproducing,an alternativemeans of goingon. The tragedyof extinctioninvolvesremovingthe
possibilityof mating,therebyerasingone's reasonforliving.For theYahi
who triedto survivein hiding,
werehopelessly
thosewhoremained
cripplednotsolelybecausetheyhad
those
suffered
theloss oftwothirdsoftheirnumber,
butbecauseamongst
werealmostall theiryoung.The realhazardto thepossiblesuctwothirds
cessofthelongconcealment
mayhavebeenthatthosewhowereleftfaceda
inwhichtheysharedno sureinvestment.
future
(Kroeber10)
Aftera fewyearsalone, Ishi could not go on. It is at thismomentthathe
wanderedout of themountainsand intowhiteAmerica.
of unprecedented
housewas theculmination
Ishi'sarrivalat theslaughter
whether
without
behavioron hispart.A fewdaysearlier,
hope,indifferent
174
SimonA. Cole
he livedordied,hehadstarted
on an aimlesstrekin a moreorlesssoutherly
he did notknow.Exhaustion
whichtookhimintoa country
was
direction
He laydowninthecorralbecausehe couldgo
addedto griefandloneliness.
milesfromhome,a manwithout
no farther.
He wasthenaboutforty
living
neverbeenbeyondthebordersof
kinor friends,
a manwhohad probably
hisowntribalterritory.
(93)
While Ishi had everyreason to anticipatemurder-and indeed his
feetcarriedhim,of all places, to a slaughterhouse-itturnsout he found
who took
a way,albeitunconventional,
of goingon. The anthropologists
of
his
him
collected
his
most
and,
artifacts,
catalogued
charge
language,
recorded
his
In
a
form
of
immorIshi
found
story. narrative,
importantly,
tality.His genes did not go on, but his story,or some versionof his story,
did. There mighthave been, of course, otherendingsto the story.Ishi
mighthave died alone in thewoods; he mighthave droppedout ofhistory
insteadof findinghimselfa place in it.Ishi mighthavematedfollowing
his
rescue. Or he mighthave been capturedand sold into intermarriage,
as
some of his femalecousins apparentlywere. (And, in fact,it is they,not
Ishi, who have dropped out of history.)Some Indian tribeswere offered
to assimilate;others,includingtheYahi,werenot.
the opportunity
The Uncompaghrefritillary
may also finda way of goingon. When
pressed,biologistsbecome less confidentabout predictingthe imminent
extinctionof theUncompaghrefritillary.
Populationfluctuationsare difcounts
are
ficultto interpret,
unreliable,and-the mosttantapopulation
colonies
mayyetremainundiscovered.
lizingpossibility-additional
EvenDr. Britten,
whohas madenumerous
admitsitis impossible
searches,
or nottherearehiddencoloniesin thewilderness
to be surewhether
ofthe
SanJuans.It is particularly
difficult
becausethebutterflies
arevisibleandin
foronlyaboutthreeweeksa year,inJuly.
"Therehavebeenreports
of
flight
additional
coloniesbyoneotherlepidopterist
whois refusing
torevealwhere
theyare."'7
The Palos Verdesblue butterfly,
long presumedextinct,turnedup in a
meadow in southernCaliforniajustthisyear.The Uncompaghrefritillary
mayyethave some tricksup its sleeve.
This essay is about our responses,empathicand opportunistic,to
to finda wayto go on. This essaywillin
theplightof "others"struggling
some sense take the formof a dialogue betweenscience fictionnovels,
principally Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream ofElectricSheep? (1968),
popular newspaperaccounts, ecologists'discussionsof the endangered
species crisis,and scholarlyanalysesof geneticengineering.Such a diaDick included a
logue is alreadytakingplace withoutmy intervention.
clippingfromReutersas his epigraphforthe novel,suggestingthatcurDo AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
175
renteventsas reportedby the newspapersinspiredsome of his ideas.8
Popular and scholarlydiscussions of genetic engineeringand species
drawliberallyon sciencefiction,althoughnotnecessarilyon
preservation
Dick's own texts.Academicshave practicallymade an industryof explicatingthe themesplayed out in RidleyScott'sBlade Runner(1982), the
filmadaptationof Do AndroidsDreamofElectricSheep?,much in theway
that the semioticiansin Malcolm Bradbury's novel Doctor Criminale
(1992) onlystudyCasablanca.9In short,I am followingGreggMitmanin
locating "science" not in specialized scientificjournals,but at a point
where a varietyof texts-ecology journals,newspaperpopularizations,
sciencefictionnovelsand films-intersect.10
Do AndroidsDream?
Dick's eponymousquestion asks what makes us human. Do androids
dream? If they do, if theyhave emotionallives, humans will be hard
pressed to maintainthe boundarybetweenthemselvesand the cyborg
"other."This is theissue thathas commandedtheattentionof mosttreatmentsof the book and film,but in factDick asks not whetherandroids
dream,but "Do androidsdream of electricsheep?"The animal otheris
crucialto Dick's explorationof whatit means to be human. The animal
themewas largelyomittedin the filmversion-it shows up only subtly
whenat all. Consequently,mostcriticshave ignoredit.11It is in theinterin the 1990s Dick's animal-human-android
est of reconstructing
love triI
that
am
the
text.
dredgingup
angle
original,twenty-five-year-old
Do AndroidsDream of ElectricSheep?
Do Androids?
tellsthestoryof RickDeckard,a policeman(called a "blade
runner"in thefilm)whose job is to "retire"anyandroidsthatmanageto
escape to Earth fromtheir enslavementin the "off-world"colonies.
fromhumans,so thepolice identify
Androidsare almostindistinguishable
them by testingthemwith a polygraph-like
apparatuswhich measures
theiremotionalresponseto a seriesof provocativequestions.The paraas an
dox, of course, is thatin orderto continueto functioneffectively
assassin and interrogator,
Deckard must suppress his emotionsto the
pointthathis targetsappear to have richeremotionallivesthanhe does. It
is thisexplorationofwhatdistinguishes
humansfromandroidsthatmakes
the filmso compelling.But whatis not explainedin the filmis thatthe
emotionalresponsesare all provokedby scenariosinvolvinganimal suffering.Why animal suffering?Because "animal empathy"is the one
aspect of humanitythatandroidsare unable to fake.In the futuresociety
176
SimonA. Cole
imaginedby thenovel,whichI willcall, forlack of a betterterm,"bladerunnersociety,"animal empathyis the highestvirtue.12The historical
explanationfor this peculiar social value lies in the mass extinctionof
mostanimal species due to environmental
degradationfollowing"World
War Terminus."The remaininganimalsare protectedby strictlaws and
held as spiritualtotems. Directly followingthe war, all citizens were
requiredto care foran animalof some kind.Caringforan animalis now
enforcednot by law but by social pressure:lackinga pet is viewedas an
ethicallapse. Pets have replaced automobilesas statussymbols.Neighbors vie to outdo one anotherby possessingrarer,costlieranimals.In a
societywhereeveryonelovesand covetsanimals,androidsare exposed by
theirlack of animalempathy.Androids,it seems,do notdreamof electric
sheep, and that is theirundoing when a blade runnercatches up with
them.
Do AndroidsDream of ElectricSheep?
But we may read Dick's titleanotherway.Do androidsdream of electric
sheep?Withanimalsso rareand yetso highlyprized as statussymbols,a
marketin artificial
petshas arisen.Deckard,in fact,can afford
flourishing
onlyan electricsheep on his civilservicesalary,but he is tormented
by the
inadequacyofhis bogus sheep and obsessedbyhis desireforwhathe calls
a "real animal." Deckard's longingforan animal companion is at once
mercenaryand spiritual.In the same breath,he articulateshis spiritual
need to care fora live animal and calculatesthe numberof bountiesfor
androidretirements
he wouldneed to be able to affordit. In blade-runner
society,animalshave become bothstatussymbolsand objectsof genuine
love, and, althoughsometimesthemselvesof questionableauthenticity,
from
theyhave become the wedge withwhichthe "real" is distinguished
the "fake" among humanoids.While animals' abilityto "pass" is viewed
as a social good, androids' even greaterabilityto "pass" is dangerous.
Androidsthatattemptto pass on Earthmustbe "sniffedout"-by emotionallydeadened humans and by animals,most of which are "fake."It
may be truethat,as Donna Harawaysays,"the cyborgappears in myth
precisely where the boundary between human and animal is transgressed,"13 but it would also appear thatanimals police the boundary
betweenhumansand cyborgs,extendingtherole animalsalreadyplay in
policing;we now employdogs to sniffout truthfromfalsity,legitimate
cargo fromcontraband.And it is in thedystopianfuturepositedby a science fictionfilmcontemporary
withBlade Runner,JamesCameron's Terminator(1984), that dogs are employedto sniffout cyborginfiltrators
because they, unlike humans, are capable of distinguishingfake
humanoidsfromthereal thing.
Do AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
177
This strangesituationbecomes even strangerin the case of Phil
Resch, a fellowbountyhunterDeckard encounters.In a plottwistfartoo
complex to have been incorporatedwholesaleinto the filmadaptation,
Resch is toldthathe is an androidhimself.Resch is deeplyshakenbythis
to
revelation,as we mightwell imagine.But whathe findsmostdifficult
withhis animal.Resch protests,
comprehendis his relationship
I ownan animal;nota falseone buttherealthing.A squirrel.I lovethe
I feeditandchangeitspaperDeckard;everygoddamnmorning
squirrel,
clean
its
in
the
whenI getoffworkI
youknow,
up cage-and then
evening
in
runs
over
the
letitloose my[apartment]
andit
all
place.14
disturbsDeckard,who considershimselfa "real"
Resch's remonstration
humanbut cares foran electricsheep.
of
At anotherpointin thebook,theTyrellCorporation,manufacturer
tries
to
bribe
whose
weakness
with
Deckard,
androids,
theyeasilydiscern,
an owl,a supposedlyextinctanimal.Is theowl reallyan illegallyobtained
rareanimal,affordableonlyto largecorporations,as Tyrellclaims?Or is
it merelyan elaboratefake?
in thefilm.15
This owlis one offewanimalsymbolspreserved
It appears
in a scene with the android Rachael, to whom the screenwriters
have
assignedResch'sdilemma-she's an android,butshe doesn'tknowityet.
Deckardreplies.
"Do youlikeourowl?"Rachaelasks."Isitexpensive?"
"Very."
"It'sfake,isn'tit?"
"Of course it is ... I'm Rachael."
The situationbecomes all themoreinteresting
since,as any experienced
moviegoercould easilyanticipate,Rachael and Deckard end up sleeping
together.In the book, a jiltedRachael punishesDeckard by pushinghis
herfellowandroids,off
realsheep,purchasedwithbountiesfromretiring
his roof.Whatwe have hereis a love triangle,or at leastan "empathytriangle,"betweenhumans,androids,and animals.
Episodes in Extinction
If this all sounds like science fictionto you, consider the following
primer
excerptfromThe Handy Boy's Book, an early-twentieth-century
aimed at youngboys, part of a body of literatureconcernedwith"the
reassertingof thenaturalin machine culture,"what Mark Seltzer calls
"boyology":'16
178
SimonA. Cole
Everyboyoughtto keepat leastone pet,butnotunlesshe is preparedto
to keepitinhealthandcomfort.
necessary
giveall ofthecareand attention
foryourpet,youwillneverneglect
Ifyouhavea realaffection
it;ifyouhave
no
to
the
animal.17
have
notthataffection,
right keep
you
idea afterall. Rather,itis an
Animalempathy,
then,is notsuch a futuristic
extensionof attitudespresentearlyin the twentieth
centuryin a "handy
withthecontempoboy's" culture,whichsharesitsnotionof stewardship
Roosevelt
and
othergreatwhite
raneous "teddybear patriarchy."
Teddy
huntersand naturalhistorianssoughtto turnboys intomen throughcontact with,and exploitationof, nature.'8Let us see how the handyboy's
descendantstackletheproblemsof animalconservation.
Today,responsesto theendangeredspecies crisisare turningincreasinglytowardeconomic incentivesto preservewildlife.Effortsare now
being focussed upon unitingeconomic and ecological goals-"making
conservationpay." Such effortstake many forms:ecotourism,wildlife
ranchesin Africa,debt-for-nature
swaps, captivebreedingand biodiverIn
all
these
cases, the aim is generallythe same: to consityprospecting.
vincesome reluctantpoor nationthatallowingextinctionto occur is simplypoor resourcemanagement.Timber and cattlemayappear profitable
in the shortrun,but,conservationists
argue,in thelong run maintaining
a region's species diversitywill be more profitableas a sustainable
resource,whetheras spectaclefortourists,nutsforBen & Jerry'sRainforskinlotion,quarryforbig-gamehunters,or
forestCrunch,ingredients
rawmaterialforpharmaceuticalfirms.Consider,forexample,thefollowingvignettesfromthestrangeworldof endangeredspeciespreservationnot a fictionalworld,but our own:
Today,
responsesto
theendangered
speciescrisisare
turning
increasingly
towardeconomic
incentives
to
preservewildlife.
In Zimbabwe,
to promotetheconservation
of thewildlife
resources
found
on communal
havebeenestablished
whererevlands,private
gamereserves
are paid to localcommunities.
Recreational
is
enuesfromhunting
hunting
economicincentive
nowthemostpositiveandwidespread
fortheconservain Zimbabwe.19
tionoflargemammals
The Instituto
Nacionalde Biodiversidad(INBio), foundedby conservation
is based upon
Daniel
Janzenand the Costa Rican government,
biologist
In
the premisethatbiodiversity
is best preservedby commercialization.
1991, INBio signedan agreementwiththepharmaceuticalgiant,Merck,
sellingthe rightsto useful productsemergingfromINBio's project of
locating and catalogingthe species of Costa Rica's exceptionallyrich
biota. The Merck-INBiodeal has been almostuniversally
praisedin conservationcirclesas a "win-win"agreement.20
Meanwhile in China, black-marketentrepreneursare reportedly
Do AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
179
breedingtigersin captivityto supply the herbal medicinemarketwith
pulverizedbones and otherparts.
A tiger-breeding
farmin northeast
Chinathatstartedwith14 animalsin
Withmoderntechniques,
itwillbe possible
1986nowhas62 Siberiantigers.
to breed2,000"industrial"
tigerseverysevenyears.21
Since poachershave decimatedthewildtigerpopulation,commercialcaptivebreedingof tigersappears to be smartresourcemanagement.It just
mightalso save thetigerfromextinction.
is experimenting
witha biotechnologiAntonieBlackler,a geneticist,
commonfrogspecies
cal conservationmethod.He is tryingto impregnate
withembryosfromendangeredspecies,thusenablingcommonanimalsto
serveas surrogatemothersforrare ones. In theory,he argues,the same
methodmaybe applicableto largemammals.22
on a largescale is neitherpolitically
Arguingthathabitatpreservation
nor technicallyfeasible,conservationbiologists,like Michael Soulk, are
increasinglyturningto biotechnologicalmethodsforpreservingendangered species. Since "biotechnologyis acceleratingat a pace thatcould
nothavebeen foreseenthirty
yearsago," itpromisesfargreaterrewardsin
the futurethan low-techmethodslike habitatpreservationand conventionalcaptivebreeding.Amongthe methodsSoul& expectsto flourishin
the twenty-first
cloning,
centuryare cryogenics,DNA fingerprinting,
and automatedtaxonomy.Soul&suggeststhatit maybe
gene transplants,
unlike
Cryopreservation,
possible to bank gametes of all vertebrates.23
treatsextinctionsolelyas a reproductive
habitatpreservation,
problem.
In short,the conservationcommunityis strivingby othermeans to
attainthe same goal achieved by blade-runnersociety:the mergerof
avariceand sentimentinto a singleforceforthe preservationof animals.
The valorizationof animalsis achieved by reducingthemto theirconstituentparts.Tiger parts,forinstance,are now evenmorevaluablethan
theirpelts.Biodiversity
prospectingtakesthisreductionismto its fullest
extent;it posits an economic systemin whichthe value of an animal is
locatedin its chemicals:
wehaveyetto
is forever,
wearebeginning
to graspthatextinction
Although
The
that
we
when
lose
what
speciesdisappear. point cannotbe
comprehend
to chemical
is tantamount
is
that
biotic
impoverishment
overemphasized
that
arepotena
loss
of
chemicals
means
Loss
of
a
species
impoverishment.
in
the
be
invented
to
in
not
independently laboratiallyunique nature, likely
ofworth,
measures
Aside
from
other
use.
of
specieshave
tory,and possible
chemicalvalue.24
A nonentityfiftyyears ago, DNA is now being touted as the natural
resourceof thetwenty-first
century.
180
SimonA. Cole
Certainly,one of the primarytasksof the new breed of conservation
biologistsis the constructionof a marketforgeneticmaterials.As David
Takacs observes, the conservationbiologists and parataxonomistsat
It is theirlife'sblood. But to sustainthislove,
INBio "love biodiversity.
oftheiraffection,
and fast."25
The primary
need
to
sell
off
the
objects
they
locus of thisworkis thebusinessworld,whereestablishedcompanieslike
Merck and entrepreneurial
start-upslikeShaman Pharmaceuticalsreside.
The invisiblehand of the marketoffersan appealingalternativeto centralizedplanningand resourcemanagement.WhereasAndrewRoss suggeststhatecologistshaveused ecologicalcrisesto justify"the new corporatelogic of planetarymanagement,"the extinctioncrisisis morein tune
withfree-market
ideology.26
In blade-runnersociety,citizenswant to keep animals,but it is not
clear where status seekingand social pressure end and where animal
empathybegins.
You knowhowsomepeopleare aboutnottakingcare of an animal;they
I meantechnically
it'snota crime
consideritimmoral
and anti-empathetic.
butthefeeling's
still
likeitwas rightafterW. W. T. [WorldWarTerminus]
there.27
The privategame reserveprogramin Zimbabwe is designedto be profitableforranchersin thelongrun,but fornow "the social incentiveofthe
prestigeof having a black rhino on theirland has been sufficientto
encourage a number of ranchersto apply for such responsibilities."28
Notice that the exploitationof rhinosis at once a commercialventure
and, as in blade-runnersociety,a "responsibility."
But, as in blade-runnersociety,these effortsprovoke self-doubt
True, some endeavorsare less suspectthanothamong conservationists.
ers. The Merck-INBio agreementhas been widelyacclaimedas a model
forfutureconservationpartnerships.The othermeasures,however,are
forconservationists
to swallow.In responseto proposalslike
moredifficult
"In
Dale
asks,
Jamison
doing this,aren't we using animals as
Soule's,
mere vehicles for theirgenes?"29And Soule himselfconcedes, "Some
biologists might object to the idea of 'cryoconservation'on ethical
grounds."30PeterJackson,chairmanof the Cat SpecialistGroup of the
World ConservationUnion, says he is "tortured"by the prospect of
industrialbreedingbut thatit must,nonetheless,be consideredone of the
to protecttigersfromextinction.31
onlyremainingopportunities
Some of theseinitiatives
certainlydo appear to embracetheveryvalues that have historicallyled to endangermentin the firstplace. How
ironic for the tiger'slast refugeto be industrialbreedingfarmswhich
serve the verymarketthat drove it fromthe wild. Private-gamefarms
"reserve" large mammals for the use in latter-day"great white hunts," the
Do AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
181
verysame unsustainablehuntingpractices,accordingto mostecologists,
thatwereresponsibleforendangering
theanimalsin thefirstplace. In this
sense, these farmscontinuethe European elites' practice of reserving
Africanmammalsfortheirown pursuitand pleasure.Indeed, historians
have suggestedthatthiselitismlies at therootof thespecies preservation
movementin Africa.32Criticshave arguedthatINBio, by commodifying
biodiversity,
perpetuatesthe same values thatcaused theextinctioncrisis
in thefirstplace.33
Do ElectricHumans Dream of Sheep?
Charismaticmegafauna-the panda, rhinoceros,whale, and now the
tiger-have all galvanized public sentimenton behalf of endangered
species.Dick's conceptionof animalempathymaps out a widespreadculturalphenomenon.But the principleof animalempathyin blade-runner
societyis not just a culturalnorm.It has become religiousdogma. The
religionis called Mercerismafterits founderWilburMercer,a martyred
prophetnow preserved,Max Headroom-like,onlyas an imagein a sortof
televisionprogramwhichallowsviewersto shareone another's,
interactive
and Mercer's,joy and pain. Mercerismis a sortof new-agereligionwhich
communalsharing,and reverenceforanimals.
combinesmartyrdom,
Followingthe completionof his harrowingand morallyambiguous
taskof "retiring"six androids,Deckard wandersout intothebare northern Californiawasteland.Delirious, he becomes convincedthathe has
intoMercer.But todayit would appear thatit is E. O. Wiltransformed
the
eminent
son,
sociobiologist,who has become Mercer. Wilson,too,
humanvalue. For Wilson,
believesthatanimalempathyis a fundamental
animalempathy,ratherthanbeinga religiousprinciple,is dictatedby the
inexorablelogic of naturalselection.Wilson suggeststhatwhat he calls
"biophilia,"thelove of nature,is an evolvedgenetictrait.
Wilson has thus conceiveda new methodof linkingselfishnessand
sentiment.Biophiliayieldsevolutionary,
ratherthaneconomic,gain. For
than
Wilson, evolutionis an even more powerfulengineof self-interest
economics.For Wilson,a vaguelydefined"nature"comprisesthe milieu
in which the human personalityhas evolved. Changingthis milieu,by
risk.
constitutes
removing"the natural"fromit,therefore
Forifthewholeprocessofourlifeis directed
towardpreserving
ourspecies
is
ofthe
forfuture
an
andpersonalgenes,preparing
generations expression
that
the
of
which
human
are
It
follows
beings capable.
highestmorality
ofthenatural
worldin whichthebrainwasassembled
overmildestruction
lionsofyearsis a riskystep.Andtheworstgambleofallis toletspeciesslip
182
SimonA. Cole
intoextinction
forevenifthenaturalenvironment
is conceded
wholesale,
moregroundlater,itcan neverbe reconstituted
in itsoriginal
diversity.34
Wilson and his allies claim thathumanswill encounterdifficulties
in an
artificialenvironment.According to David Orr, "if we complete the
destructionof nature,we will have succeeded in cuttingourselvesoff
fromthe source of sanityitself."35
Such an artificialenvironment
is, of
course, easily found in Dick's novel-in the off-worldcolonies where
humansinhabita manufactured
withonlyandroidslavesfor
environment
companionship.
In other words, electric sheep will not do, unless we propose to
become cyborgsourselves.Surprisingly,
a late-twentieth-century
conservationbiologisttakestheverypositionheld byWilburMercer:ifwe don't
love animals,we cease to be human.Thus, we returnonce again to Dick's
question:do androidsdreamof electricsheep? Is it our relationshipwith
animalsthatmakesus human?Will humansand animalsstillinhabitone
another'sdreamsin a cyborgworld?And if so, whatkindof humansand
what kind of animals? Timemourns,"all too soon, dreamsmay be the
but Harawayand Dick suggestother
onlyplace wheretigersroamfreely,"
be
There
possibilities.36
might cyborganimals,or we mightbe cyborgsor
hybridsourselves.
Isoursolicitous
attitude
toward
animals
an
merely
ofour
expression
ownanxiety?
Do ImperialistsDream of ElectricNatives?
The damagewroughtby nuclearradiationin Dick's WorldWarTerminus
is not restrictedto animals.Human fertility
has diminishedas well,and
radiationhas leftmanyhumansmentallyand/orphysicallyincapacitated.
Humans whose reproductivecapacityremainsintactare encouragedto
emigrate"off-world":
The U.N. had madeit easyto emigrate,
ifnotimpossible
difficult
to stay.
on
Earth
meant
oneself
as bioclassed
Loitering
potentially
finding
abruptly
a
the
menace
to
of
the
race.37
unacceptable,
logically
pristine
heredity
There is, therefore,
an air of denial surroundingthe outpouringof concern for animal welfarein blade-runnersociety. It is not clear that
humans,faced withthe choice betweenextinctionor self-imposedexile,
are in anypositionto pityothercreatures.The tragedythathumansprois justthat.
ject onto animalsis theirown,and animalempathy
Once again,we mustreturnto the late twentieth
century,whereanimal extinctionsare metaphorsforreproductiveanxiety,and forconcerns
about human extinctionand genetic purity.Is our solicitous attitude
towardanimalsmerelyan expressionof our own anxiety?
Do AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
183
To begin with, the rhetoricof biodiversitydoes not distinguish
betweenthehumanand the nonhuman.Calls forcatalogingthe genesof
vanishingspecies are accompanied by calls forpreservingthe genes of
vanishingraces.38Like theendangeredspeciesoftherainforest,thepostmortemon the endangered"races" of the rain foresthas alreadybeen
performedby the appropriatescientificinstitutions.With impending
extinctionpresumed,scientistsproposeto preservecryogenically
indigenous peoples' DNA beforeit is too late.It is assumedthatothermeansof
of thispreciousgeneticmaterial,such as miscegenation,
will
reproduction
not occur.This racistassumptionactuallyaccompaniesthevalorization
of
these same peoples' geneticmaterial.FirstTier39science is at last prepared to hybridizewiththeindigene,but onlyon its own terms,through
mediationsof ritualpurityand prophylaxis:the freezer,the syringe,the
polymerasechainreaction.Science offersto preserveracialpurityas well
as a valuablenaturalresourcesimultaneously.
humanand nonhuman,servesas a potentialresourcefor
Biodiversity,
geneticengineering-ofdrugs,agriculturalproducts,or, indeed,human
beings. Whetherthe object of study is human or not, geneticsurveys
inevitablyundergo successive phases of knowledgeand exploitation:
knowledgefacilitatesexploitation.
Alloftheinformation-ecological,
etc.-to be
chemical,
behavioral,
genetic,
on Costa Rica's biodiversity
can be organized,
cross-referenced,
gathered
andoffered
tothecountry,
andworldthrough
thepubmanipulated,
region,
lic domainandcommercial
sales.40
The geneticsurveyof indigenouspeople represents
theultimatemanifestation of anthropology'simperialistproject. No longer contentwith
recordingthe ritualstructureof "primitive"people, FirstTier scientists
now wish to extractand catalog theirgeneticstructureas well. Genetic
surveys prepare the way for the First Tier self to plunder genetic
resources in order to reconstructitself."Anthropologistsof possible
selves,"writesHaraway,"we are techniciansof realizablefutures."41
In thisterritory,
too, we findour way mapped by science fiction,in
thiscase Octavia Butler'snovel Dawn (1987). In Dawn, the imperialists
are extraterrestrials,
the Oankali. As Harawayputs it, "theirown origins
lost to themthroughan infinitely
long seriesof mergingsand exchanges
into
time
and
space, theOankaliaregenetraders."Like our
reachingdeep
of a sort,to a doomed
FirstTier scientists,
theOankaliofferpreservation,
people, in this case the entirehuman race. But, of course, the formof
theyoffer-mergerand gene exchange-carriesa price:the
preservation
of the distinguishable,
loss of identity,
pure self.Once again, extinction
the
engenderscommerce:theclosera social groupapproachesextinction,
universe.Endanmore it awakensmercantileinterestin a gene-hungry
184
SimonA. Cole
gered species, indigenouspeople, and FirstTier beneficiariesof genetic
engineeringmightsay,withthe Oankali,that"theiressence is embodied
commerce."42
Do Chinese Dream of ElectricTigers?
Critics of ecological change are eager to identifyagents of change, to
degradaapportionblame. Ecologiststendto blame most environmental
tion, such as rain forestdestruction,desertification,
global warming,
ozone depletion,and habitatdestructionon the consumptionpatternsof
countries.These countries'appetitefortimberand beef,for
industrialized
economic incentivesfor less developed countriesto
creates
instance,
their
own
nativeecologyin orderto feedtheseappetites.
degrade
In the case of endangeredspecies,however,themoralgroundshifts.
Whileitis againThirdTier peasantswho carryout theactualdestruction,
thistimetheoffending
world
appetitesare locatednotin theindustrialized
but in the "tradition-bound"consumernationsof Asia: China, Taiwan,
and Korea. The "insatiabledemand"forrhinoceroshornsand tigerbones
in theherbalmedicineshops of thesecountriesis drivingtheseanimalsto
extinction.The New YorkTimesdescribesthe crisislikethis:
forancientChinesemedicines
The tradeis drivenbyboomingmarkets
and
potionsmadefromtigerparts.In HongKong,China,and Taiwan,and in
acrossEuropeand NorthAmerica,Chineseapothecaries
do a
Chinatowns
steadytradein tigerwines,tigerbalms,and tigerpills,celebrated
among
ChineseandotherAsianpeoplesfortheirsupposedpowersto treatrheumaandto enhancesexualprowess,
as well[as]for
tism,to restore
failing
energy
thetreatment
of ratbites,typhoidfever,and dysentery,
amongotherailments.43
The problemis one of Asian consumption,whichis sensitiveneitherto
the sentimentalvalue of large mammals nor to the ecological peril of
Africanand Asian ecosystems.(It should be noted that Chinese herbal
healers are, of course, exploitingtigersfor preciselythe same purpose
Merckis exploitingthe Costa Rican rainforest:healing.)
When it comes to rhinocerosesand tigers,thereare, in fact,two animals, existingin different
geographiclocations.There is a First Tier,an
animalthatis valuedforsentimental
reasons,and thereis a Third Tier,an
animal thatis viewedin purelyeconomicterms.44
Traditionalroles have
been reversed.Stereotypically,
Asian cultureis more attunedto livingin
harmonywithnature,in contrastto the European tendencyto exploit
natureand ravagelandscapes.45Now Westernersare the spiritualsentiwhileAsians become therationaleconomicactors,something
mentalists,
theyhave forso long been criticizedas notbeing.46
Do AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
185
Afterdecades of "greatwhitehunting"in Africa,afterthe greatbuffalo slaughterof the American West, Europeans have at last found
remorse and conservation,only to find theirbest effortsstymiedby
anotherbreedofhunters:tradersas wellas wasteful,
consumers.
profligate
has primarilybeen ventedby criticizingChinese "valOur frustration
to the ultimatefateof the
ues," whichallow themto remainindifferent
beasts,we lament,if we could
species. We could save thesemagnificent
beliefs.Surely,someone
onlywean thoseAsians fromtheirsuperstitious
has alreadythoughtof peddlingersatzpulverizedtiger.Amidsta farrago
of imitationsand fakes,we are again remindedof theircurioustendency
to usurp and yetstillfurther
valorizethe "real."
Do
Dream
Androids
ofElectricSheep?in mind,it is clearthat
Keeping
thisquestioningof Asian values in factentailsquestioningAsians' very
This is, of course,notthefirsttimeWesterners
have portrayed
humanity.
Asians as monstersor robots.47Indeed, the criticismcan occasionally
lapse intocastigatingthe Chinese simplyforbeingso darnnumerous:
Whenadvancesin hunting
arecombined
withlowertradebarritechniques
ers and rapidlygrowingpopulationsthatdemandmedicinesmade from
an entire
exoticwildlife,
speciescanbe wipedoutin onegeneration.48
This referenceto Asian overpopulationis hardlyaccidental,especiallyin
lightof the prominencegiven to the sexual angle of Asian demand for
tigerparts. As it did withits last "poster" species, the rhinoceros,the
conservationmovementhas pinned a large portionof the blame forthe
cultures.This
tiger'sdeclineon itsuse as an aphrodisiacby superstitious
smacks
of
correctness:
reproductive
superciliousargument
Affluent
Taiwanesewithflagging
libidospayas muchas $320 fora bowlof
thesoup willmakethemliketigers,whichcan
soup,thinking
tiger-penis
areinheat.49
copulateseveraltimesan hourwhenfemales
Westernsensibilitiesfindthisrepugnant,but, as witheverything
else we
criticizeAsians forthesedays,our complaintsabout whattheydo mask
our resentmentat the factthattheydid it first.In thishaughtiness,we
mightperhaps detect a note of apprehension.Does the West perceive
itselfto be in reproductivecompetitionwithAsia? And ifso, are we perturbedby thespecterof theAsian male wieldinga prosthetictigerpenis?
Accordingto thisscenario,Asians have, in effect,alreadygained an
powerofthe
edge in thegeneticarmsrace,byharnessingthereproductive
tiger,a powerthatthey,withtheirlow-techmethods,threatento exhaust
we get the opportunityto exploitit withour high-techmethods.
before
Asians have alreadyhybridizedwithtigersand rhinoceroses,a move we
Rememnow wishto counterby drawingon theresourcesofbiodiversity.
186
SimonA. Cole
"lovebiodiversity."
ber,conservationbiologistsand parataxonomists
They
this
relationshipand have babieswith
may actuallywant to consummate
Notice thatthe two culturesare pursuingprofoundlydifferbiodiversity.
ent strategiesin thisreproductivewar. Notice, also, thatneitherculture
has achieved autarky;both mustuse resourcesgleaned not fromwithin
theirown bordersbut, like the Oankali, fromeconomicallysubservient
clientstateslikeIndia and Costa Rica.
The responseof the Westernnationshas been to impose tradesanctions on Taiwan and threatento impose themon China.50By imposing
on Taiwan,the U.S. threatensto exclude it fromtrade,
traderestrictions
the vehicle of global re/production.
Exclusion fromthe race's common
Consider,forexamre/productive
projectis indeedtheworstpunishment.
of
the
the
radioactivelydamaged humans in Do
ple,
plight "specials,"
Androids?
evenifaccepting
Oncepeggedas special,a citizen,
sterilization,
droppedout
ofhistory.
He ceasedin effect
tobe partofmankind.51
The specialsthusfindthemselvesin much thesame positionas members
of endangeredspecies: theyare the last of theirkind,destinedto "drop
out of history,"
doomed by theirhumiliating
to reproducein sufinability
ficientnumbers.Trade and reproduction
are partofthesame project,and
the punishmentimposed upon the specials, the recalcitranthumans in
Dawn, and the Taiwanese is of the same form:ostracismand exclusion
fromsome typeof trade.
Did Alexander Graham Bell Dream of ElectricSheep?
Having establishedsex as our subject,letus brieflyreinsertDick and his
electricsheep into our discussion.It seems thatin 1889 AlexanderGraham Bell boughta sheep farmand was intriguedto findthatewes,in contrastto manyothermammals,have onlytwo nipples.Bell spentthe next
succeeded,
thirty
yearstryingto breedmulti-nippled
sheep.He eventually
and thesheep did, as Bell had hypothesized,
bear twinsratherthansingle
We mightwell ask, as does AvitalRonell, my source forthis
offspring.
strangestory,"What is goingon here?" What is the inventorof electric
speechdoinggenetically
engineering
sheep?Ronell'sanswerlies in theconcept of prosthesis:
Whatcompelsattention
hereis thewaythetelephone,
in thefigure
andperson of AlexanderGrahamBell,splitting
itselfoffintothepoesyof body
andengineering-something
parts,conceptually
plugsintogeneticresearch
thatshouldcome as no greatsurpriseto thosewhomaintain
a theoryof
Do AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
187
as concernstechnological
tools.Precisely
organextensionor amputation
becausethetelephone
wasitselfconceived
as a prosthetic
organ,as supplementandtechnological
doubletoan anthropomorphic
body,itwasfromthe
startinstalledwithina conceptof organtransplant,
implant,or genetic
in
a
that
the
Frankenstein
Promethean
monster
remodeling way
alreadyhad
foreshadowed.
It is beyondthescopeofthisswitchboard
more
to establish
thantheextreme
andtroubling
the
of
addition
coherency
linking
technologicalperceptual
toolsto thephantasm
ofthereorganization
ofbodypartsin
themovement
fromelectric
to thenipplesofa sheep.52
speech
It would seem geneticengineering,
and technologicalinnoreproduction,
vationare all partof a singleprojectof re/production.
and reproducRoy Willissuggeststhattribesconcernedwithfertility
tion bestow symbolicmeaningupon animals,whereastribesconcerned
withproductionimbuetheiranimalswitheconomicvalue.53Wheredoes
our tribestand?I would arguethatthe cases presentedheredemonstrate
thatWillis' dichotomyhas brokendown, if it everheld up at all. These
twinmeaningsare not opposed but are two sides of the same coin. Our
The
responsesto extinction-empathyand avarice-are not so different.
empatheticand exploitativeresponsesyieldessentiallysimilaroutcomes:
various formsof merger,exchange,inclusion,and sexual union. These
outcomesmay all be of a kind,but theyare infinitely
varied.Haraway's
that
manifesto
holds
a
cyborg
geneticallyengineeredworldopens new
hitherto
for
possibilities strange,
unimaginedcouplings.
Conclusion
Do androidspulverizetigerbones to use as aphrodisiacs?Yes, theywould,
but notbecause theyare stupid,superstitious,
cruel,or unempathic.They
would because, likeany otherlivingthing,theywilldo whattheyhave to
in orderto go on. This commonurge to go on is whatunitesanimals,
humans,and possibly-only the futurewill tell-androids. How might
androidsgo on? As Harawayargues,androidswillbe compelledto devise
new and innovativesolutionsto the problemof goingon. Mighttheytry
machines themselves,literallya
to manufacturenew and better-living
will
that
and more,even somethingas
formof re/production?54
They
try
as
crazy eatingpulverizedtigerparts.
The questionabout androids,then,is: do theystruggleto go on? An
androidwiththe resourcesto finda way to go on is morallyand practifroma humanbeing;an androidthatcannotfinda
callyindistinguishable
"dies"
its
that
at
way,
appointed (by its maker)hour,is just a machine.
The androidsin Dick's originaltextare of thelattertype.When Deckard
threatensto killRachael,
188
SimonA. Cole
thedarkfirewaned;thelifeforceoozed outofher,as he had so oftenwitnessedbeforewithotherandroids.The classicresignation.
Mechanical,
twobillion
intellectual
acceptanceofthatwhicha genuineorganism-with
it-could neverhaverecto liveand evolvehagriding
yearsofthepressure
oncileditselfto. "I can'tstandthewayyouandroidsgiveup,"he saidsavagely.55
The androidsin Blade Runnerare not like those in the book. The most
brilliantcoup of the screenplaylay in makingRoy Baty,theleader of the
renegade"replicants,"as the androidsare called,to some extentthehero
of the movie. The dramaticforcein the filmlies not withthe assassin
Deckard, but withRoy in his searchforhis fatherand maker,his loss of
his replicantmate,Pris,his questto avengeher,and, finally,
his realization
whichinspireshimto eschewvengeanceand letDeckard live.
of empathy,
It is Deckard himselfwho observesthatRoy possesses all thetrappingsof
thelegendarydramatichero of uncertainpaternity:"All he wantedwere
the same answerstherestof us want.Wheredo I come from?Wheream
I going?How long have I got?"
of thefilmis centeredaroundRoy's efforts
to
The dramaticstructure
of
but
to
no
into
the
with
avail.
He
breaks
on.
He
mates
Pris, course,
go
TyrellCorporation'sheadquarters,wherehe demandsrepairsto thefailhimto a foursafesystemin his geneticallyengineeredbody thatrestricts
yearlifespan.Neitherpolitepersuasionnor savage threatsare of anyuse.
to stayalive just long enoughto have his revenge,he
Finally,struggling
desistsfromkillingDeckard at thelast moment.Deckard muses,"maybe
in thoselastmomentshe lovedlifemorethanhe everhad before.Not just
his life:anybody'slife.My life."And again,likeIshi, thelast of his kind,
of a sortby storytelling.
He passes some version
Batyachievesimmortality
of his story,no matterhow briefand incomplete,on to Deckard, his
enemyand themurdererof his people, much as Ishi was forcedto tellhis
storyto white social scientists."I've seen thingsyou people wouldn't
in his finaltestimony.
"Attackshipson
believe,"Roy sayscontemptuously
fireofftheshouldersof Orion. All thosemomentswillbe lostin timelike
tearsin rain.Time to die."56
All thetensionand boundary-drawing
betweenhumans,animals,and
androids,then,can be ascribedto a struggleforinclusionin a common
nor are
project.The criteriaforinclusionare not consistent,
reproductive
betweenhumansand
the winnersselectedaccordingto neat distinctions
nonhumans.Instead,geneticengineering,
likeall formsof re/production,
is shaped by elementsof both love and exploitation.Some participants,
likethe FirstTier and the Oankali,willbe in the game by virtueof their
superiorstrength.Othersmay choose to join in as themostthepalatable
means of escape froma difficult
situation.Others,likethe specials,may
be excludedaltogether.
And, of course,darkhorsesand Trojan horses,of
Do AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
Genetic
like
engineering,
allformsof
re/production,
isshaped by
elementsofboth
loveand
exploitation.
189
whichwe maynotevenbe aware,willbe involved.We are all hoststo parasitesand parasiteswithinparasites.57
LynnMargulisand Dorion Sagan,
for instance,speculate that space travelallows humans to functionas
vehiclesformicrobescontainedwithinour bodies. While humans may
for
"go extinct"in the conventionalsense,we maywellgain immortality
our role in facilitatinga galactic "microbialdiaspora."58While opportunisticmicrobes are wingingtheirway across space, cryogenicgene
whentheirlong-lasting
banks,perhapsdeep underground,
powersupplies
the
extinction
of the lifeformsthey"pregive out, mightsimplyrepeat
served"-the firsttimea tragedy,the second a farce.Extinctionmaynot
be theinescapabledestinythatit mightat firstglanceappearto be, forthe
thereare waysof
"other"or for"us." Givenimaginationand opportunity,
in
some
form
or
another.
goingon,
Notes
I am indebtedto PeterJ.Taylor,Laura Kelly,
For inspirationand encouragement,
David Takacs, Beth Drexler,Larry Carbone, Paul Edwards, Rosaleen Love, Jo
Liska, George Kolias, Yoo-Shin Kim, Mary Lui, and the membersof the Social
Analysisof Ecological Change seminarat Cornell University(Spring, 1994):
Laura Fitton,Saul Halfon,Gonzalo Kmaid, Hanah LeBarre, Govindan Parayil,
Zed Rothman,Theresa Selfa, Sean Selinger,Chris Shields, and ChristelVan
Arsdale. The ideas expressed in this paper were initiallyexplored in a video
whichKavita Philipand I produced (see n. 15). We wishto thankAntonieBlackler and Michael Fortunfortheirinvaluablecooperation.
1. Carol Kaesuk Yoon, "Rare Butterfly
Consignedto Extinction,"New York
Times,26 April 1994.
2. I am conceivingthe cult(ure) of extinctionas somewhatakinto the "cult
of death" thatpermeatedthe Britishupper classes in the yearspriorto the First
WorldWar. The bluebloodsmanaged to fulfilltheirdeath wishesvicariouslyby
sendingtheirsons offto the war. Edward L. Pulling,"Philosophyand Death in
the Coterie,"(unpublishedthesis,PrincetonUniversity,
1989).
and Value,"in Ecology,Eco3. Edward O. Wilson,"Biodiversity,
Prosperity,
Ethics:TheBrokenCircle,ed. F HerbertBormannand StephenR. Kellert
nomics,
(New Haven, Conn.: Yale UniversityPress, 1991), 9.
4. David Ehrenfeld,"ThirtyMillion Cheers for Diversity,"New Scientist
110 (12 June1986): 38-43.
5. George B. Schaller, The Last Panda (Chicago: Universityof Chicago
Press, 1993).
A Biography
6. Theodora Kroeber,Ishi in TwoWorlds:
oftheLast WildIndian
in NorthAmerica(Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1961).
7. Yoon, "Rare Butterfly."
8. The clippingreportsthe death of a 200-year-oldturtlethathad been
kept and treatedas a chiefin Tonga. Dick's use of this epigraphsupportsmy
argumentthatanimalsare the centralthemein thenovel.
190
SimonA. Cole
9. Malcolm Bradbury,DoctorCriminale(New York:Viking,1992), 128. See,
for example, Peter Fitting,"The Lessons of Cyberpunk,"in Technoculture,
ed.
Constance Penley and Andrew Ross (Minneapolis: Universityof Minnesota
An Enquiryintothe
Press, 1991); David Harvey,The ConditionofPostmodernity:
Cultural
Basil
Paul
Edwards,forthBlackwell,1989);
Originsof
Change(Oxford:
Blade Runner:Issuesin RidleyScott's"Blade
coming.Also see essaysin Retrofitting
Runner"and PhilipK. Dick's "Do AndroidsDreamofElectricSheep?",ed. JudithB.
Kerman (BowlingGreen, Ohio: BowlingGreen State UniversityPopular Press,
1991) and the 40-page Blade Runnerbibliography
byWilliamM. Kolb contained
therein.
10. Gregg Mitman, "Cinematic Nature: Hollywood Technology,Popular
Culture,and theAmericanMuseum of NaturalHistory,"Isis 84 (1993): 638.
11. The lone exceptionthatI foundis Marleen Barr,"Metahuman 'Kipple'
Or, Do Male Movie Makers Dream of ElectricWomen?:Speciesismand Sexism
in Blade Runner,"in Retrofitting
Blade Runner,ed. JudithB. Kerman,25-31.
12. The theme of empathyis taken to its fullestin Octavia Butler'slatest
novel, The Parableof theSower(New York:Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993).
Butler'sheroinesuffersfrom"hyperempathy,"
which causes her to experience
directlythe pain of people, and some animals,around her. We shall run into
Butleragain later.
13. Donna Haraway,"A ManifestoforCyborgs:Science, Technology,and
SocialistFeminismin the 1980s," SocialistReview15 (1985): 68.
14. PhilipK. Dick, Do AndroidsDreamofElectricSheep?(New York:Ballentine,1968), 112.
15. For a visual explicationof the animalimageryin the film,placed in the
context of contemporaryendangered species conservationinitiatives,see the
homemadevideo by Kavita Philipand myselfentitled"Blade Runner:The Nature
Lover's Cut" (1994).
16. Mark Seltzer,Bodies and Machines(New York:Routledge,1992), 152.
Seltzerdoes not cite TheHandy Boy'sBook.
17. JohnBarnard, TheHandy Boy'sBook (London: Ward Lock, n.d.), 238.
18. Donna Haraway,PrimateVisions:Gender,Race, and Naturein theWorld
ofModernScience(New York:Routledge,1989), 26-58.
A. McNeely, "Economic IncentivesforConservingBiodiversity:
19. Jeffrey
Lessons forAfrica,"Ambio22 (1993): 147.
20. Elissa Blum, "Making BiodiversityConservationProfitable:A Case
35 (1993): 20.
Studyof theMerck/INBioAgreement,"Environment
21. Malcolm W. Browne,"Folk Remedy Demand May Wipe Out Tigers,"
New YorkTimes,22 September1992.
22. Personal communication,5 April 1994. H. D. M. Moore concurs with
Blackler's predictionin "In VitroFertilizationand the Development of Gene
Banks forWild Mammals,"ZoologicalSymposium
64 (1992): 89-99.
23. Michael E. Soule, "ConservationBiologyin the Twenty-First
Century:
Summaryand Outlook,"in Conservation
fortheTwenty-First
Century,ed. David
Western and Mary C. Pearl (New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1989),
297-303.
24. Thomas Eisner,"Chemical Prospecting:A ProposalforAction,"in EcolEthics,ed. Bormannand Kellert,197.
ogy,Economics,
25. David Takacs, "Costa Rica's National Instituteof Biodiversity(INBio):
Biodiversidad Central," (paper presented at The Nature of Science Studies
Workshop,CornellUniversity,
April 1994), 18.
Do AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
191
in theAge
26. AndrewRoss, StrangeWeather:
Culture,Scienceand Technology
Limits
207.
Verso,
(London:
1991),
of
27. Dick, Androids,10.
28. McNeely, "Economic Incentives,"147.
29. Dale Jamison,"AgainstZoos," in In DefenseofAnimals,ed. PeterSinger
(Oxford:Basil Blackwell,1985), 115.
30. Soule, "ConservationBiology,"303. What is leftunstatedin the disagreementbetweenSoule and Jamisonis a disciplinary
strugglebetweendescriptive conservationbiologists and geneticistsfor control of the conservation
agenda.
31. Browne,"Folk Remedy."
32. WilliamBeinart,"Empire,Huntingand Ecological Change in Southern
and Central Africa,"Past and Present128 (1990): 175-6; Haraway, Primate
Visions,26-58.
33. Takacs, "Costa Rica's National Institute,"5.
34. Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia (Cambridge: Harvard UniversityPress,
1984), 121. Biophilia is a brilliantstrategyfor "makingconservationtrue,"to
terminology.Wilson is tryingto make biophilia a selfemploy actor-network
by
fulfilling
prophecy:he seeks to persuade people to behave as conservationists
is writteninto theirgenes. To do thishe
convincingthemthatconservationism
necessarilydispenseswiththe peskyhistoricalfactswhichsuggestthathumans
have not provento be particularly
disposed towardpreservingnature-quite the
opposite,in fact.More perplexingstillis how Wilson can believethatconservationistvalues are a successful evolutionaryadaptation,whereas Asian values
whichhold thattigerpartshave medicinalvalues are unsuccessful.
35. David W. Orr, "Love It or Lose It: The ComingBiophiliaRevolution,"
TheBiophiliaHypothesis
(Washington,D.C.: Island Press, 1993), 437.
36. Eugene Linden, "Tigers on Trial," Time,28 March 1994, 44.
37. Dick, Androids,13.
38. Leslie Roberts,"A Genetic Surveyof VanishingPeoples," Science252
(1991): 1614-7. If the boundary between the human and the nonhuman is
becomingblurred,it is perhapsbeing replacedby a boundarybetweenthe civilized and the natural,a systemof classification
thatlumpsindigenouspeoples in
withanimalsand otherrare"species."
39. I am adopting PeterJ. Taylor's conventionof using the terms"First
based on class-to replacethe
Tier" and "Third Tier"-which makedistinctions
and Northern/Southern
First/ThirdWorld,Western/non-Western,
antonymsto theroyal
whichmake distinctions
based on geography.I also resortfrequently
"we" in thispaper,whichI mean to referto some generalizedFirstTier culture.
40. Rodrigo Gamez et al., "Costa Rica's Conservation Program and
Institute(INBio)," in Biodiversity
National Biodiversity
UsingGenetic
Prospecting:
ed. WalterV. Reid et al. (Baltimore,Md.:
Resources
forSustainableDevelopment,
WorldResources Institute,1993), 63.
and Women:TheReinvention
41. Donna Haraway,Simians,Cyborgs,
ofNature
(New York:Routledge,1991), 230.
42. Octavia E. Butler, Dawn: Xenogenesis(New York: Popular Library,
1987). The quotationsare fromHaraway,Simians,226-9 (originalemphasis).
Haraway draws an interestingparallel between Oankali gene tradingand the
Atlanticslave trade, but she does not connect it to the genetic surveyingof
indigenouspeople.
192
SimonA. Cole
43. JohnF. Burns,"Medicinal PotionsMay Doom Tiger to Extinction,"New
YorkTimes,15 March 1994.
44. To use the Germanunderstandingof Taylor'sFirstTier/ThirdTier terminology.At thispoint,I also have to dispensewiththeFirstTier/ThirdTier terminology,and revertto the geographicaldistinctionbetweenAsian and Western.
Ecol45. See, forexample,CarolynMerchant,TheDeath ofNature:Women,
Revolution(San Francisco,Calif.: Harper and Row, 1980).
ogy,and theScientific
criticizedAsian cul46. Westerncommentatorson Asia have traditionally
of
natural
resources.
This "laziness"
turesfornot being sufficiently
exploitative
has led to theirtechnologicalbackwardness,whichin turnservesas thejustificationforWesternimperialism.Michael Adas, Machinesas theMeasureofMen: SciDominance(Ithaca, N.Y.: CornellUniand Ideologiesof Western
ence,Technology,
241-58.
Press,
1989), especially
versity
47. JohnDower, Warwithout
Mercy:Race and Powerin thePacificWar(New
York:Pantheon,1986).
48. Thomas L. Friedman, "U.S. Puts Sanctions on Taiwan," New York
Times,12 April 1994.
49. Linden, "Tigers on Trial," 47.
50. Oddly enough-or perhaps,in lightof my argument,not oddlyat allthesesanctionsconsistof excludingTaiwan, not fromtradein general,but from
the "legitimate"wildlife-product
trade. See Friedman,"U.S. Puts Sanctionson
Taiwan."
51. Dick, Androids,13.
52. And, moreover,what on earthwas BenjaminFranklindoing extemporizingon the subject of the rate of putrefecationof sheep killedby electricity?
Book: Technology,
ElectricSpeech(LinAvitalRonell, The Telephone
Schizophrenia,
coln: Universityof NebraskaPress, 1989), 337-40, 453 (emphasisadded).
53. Roy Willis, "Cosmology, Economy, and Symbolic Loading," in The
C. Stone (Aberdeen,Tex.: Aberdeen
ofAnimalsinAfrica,ed. Jeffrey
Exploitation
UniversityAfricanStudies Group, 1988), 303-14.
54. I am indebtedto PeterJ.Taylorforthissuggestion.
55. Dick, Androids,176.
56. Thanks to JudithB. Kerman,ed., Retrofitting
Blade Runner,forenhancing myalreadyprodigiousabilityto quote thefilmfrommemory.
57. See, for instance,Francois Delaporte, The Historyof YellowFever:An
Essay on theBirthof TropicalMedicine(Cambridge,Mass.: MIT Press, 1991).
58. Quoted in MyrdeneAnderson,"ConcerningGaia-Semiotic Production
ed. Thomas A. Sebeok and JeanUmikerOur Planet,"in Biosemiotics,
of/in/by/for
Sebeok (Berlin:Mouton de Gruyter,1992), 3.
Do AndroidsPulverizeTigerBones to Use as Aphrodisiacs?
193