Boyhood - Hero (Family of the year)

Building an electrical device that not just chemically alters complex emotions but actually allows humans to transmit unaltered emotions can have powerful applications, but we only see the empathy box used by Mercer’s fervent disciples. I find it fascinating to wonder why the technology behind the empathy box is used exclusively for practicing Mercerism. Would sharing emotions have the same effect without seeing Mercer’s hike from his point of view while feeling his pain?

First we should wonder: is there any purpose to Mercer’s journey? As much as it seems a reference to Sisyphus’s eternal task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, the hike seems more aligned with practices such as fasting and meditation in Eastern religions in order to reach divinity. The empathy box is a literal interpretation of “oneness” with the world. John Isidore, living alone in a long abandoned apartment complex, describes this effect with almost religious fervour: “‘An empathy box,’ he said, stammering in his excitement, ‘is the most personal possession you have. It’s an extension of your body; it’s the way you touch other humans, it’s the way you stop being alone.’” To join one’s mind to a worldwide human collective is operating as a social, emotional creature at its most fundamental level.

As the premise of the entire book, empathy is the only thing that sets humans apart from androids. Repeatedly throughout the novel, we witness androids reacting to various moral situations and displaying a marked lack of central human emotions.