Some Modern Parallels between "Mercerism" and Social Media.
+++++++++++++
In Phillip K. Dick's novel: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Mercerism isn't really a religion. It's a coping mechanism. Everyone has an empathy box in their living room. You grab the handles, you dial in, and suddenly you're Wilbur Mercer,.. trudging up an endless hill while people throw rocks at you, and everyone who is jacked in feels the rocks at the same time. They bleed together. Then, when you let go, you're alone.. back in your shitty pissed-up, rat infested apartment again, but you feel connected for a few minutes.
Sound familiar? That's our feed now.. our 24 hr. news cycles. The group chat. Social Media in an Ad-laden nutshell.
*I. Shared suffering as proof you're human:*
In the book, you prove you have empathy,.. (or that you're not an "android") by suffering with Mercer. You don't even really have to DO anything about it per se. You just have to feel it hard enough, "together." Many people now do the same. A tragedy happens on the other side of the planet?, they all grab the handles (i.e. Twitter, TikTok, Instagram etc etc) and 'feel' it at once. The story trends for 48 hours or so, and people post about how gutted they are, and then the dial turns and they all suffer about the next tragic thing. The feeling is real, yet it's also... "performed". But it's essentially how we tell each other: "I'm still human." (and it seems in some circles that various pointless "points" are rewarded for those who "feel" and suffer the loudest or most dramatically. Fuck Sincerity Right?) I think dear Mr. Dick would've really loved the term "virtue signaling." Because (in Mercerism), the entire point IS the signal. (more or less.)
*II. The box that keeps you from going outside):*
The world in Androids is dead. Radiation, dust, most animals are fake, most humans have left for Mars. And Real life is so damn BLEAK that people would rather sit around in a dark room and hold little handles that make them feel rocks hitting a fake ass prophet. No We don't have radioactive dust (yet?), but we practically have the modern equivalent: an outside world that feels increasingly unlivable, expensive, hot,.. and hostile. So we go inside and hold our own little black boxes that make us feel something "real", even if it's painful. Doomscrolling is Mercerism... voluntary stoning.
*III. The twist: Buster Friendly.)*
Spoiler Alert. In the book, Mercerism turns out to be a scam. (Gasp!) Buster Friendly, the 24/7 TV & Radio personality (or "the O.G. influencer" lol) proves that Mercer is just a crusty, old ass actor on a cheap set somewhere. The rocks, the hill? , .. it's all fake. But people (being the needy, dopamine and other neurotrasmission addicted Beings they are at core) keep using the boxes anyway. Even after they know. (also sound familiar?/Imagine That.) Because it doesn't really MATTER if Mercer is fake. Not really. Never did. What matters is that.. everyone else is holding the handles at the same time as you. The 'community' is real even if the God isn't. That's the most modern part I think. Many people likely know (or at least suspect) that the game is rigged... know the feed is manufactured, the empathy is 'algorithmically boosted', the outrage curated by a. "Buster Friendly" that never sleeps. They KNOW .. and yet still grab the fuckin handles in the morning anyway. Because the alternative is.. well, sitting alone in a shitty ass little apartment.. with fake electric sheep. To me, Mr. Dick's question really wasn't "will androids get too human?" It was "what if humans have to fake being human.." (in order to convince themselves they still are).
J.s.h. Oct. 25/2026
