In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule…..over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  This is the Christian belief in the creation of human beings.  I believe it is true, but I cannot direct the minds of all humanity.  One of the prevalent desires of men and women throughout history has been to find the origins of humanity and, more so, the meaning of our existence.  This goal stimulates the need for explanations of natural events on earth, thus, come the developments of religion, science, and technology.  Even now, as discussed in The Dark Side of the Genome, scientists attempt to map the human genome in hope of better understanding the tendencies of humanity.  These attempts may answer the question, what defines humanity as the species meant to rule above all other creatures of the earth?  I propose that the essence of humanity is defined by personal experiences.  The characterizations of the replicants in the movie Blade Runner depict a desire to escape inevitable death during the search for the attainment of humanity through experience.

Memories might supercede experience as the root of human existence if not for the example of the replicants.  Each replicant has synthetic memories which are implanted during their creation.  If memories are the basis for humanity then replicants are not more human than human, but equal to humans.  Instead, replicants are designeed in the interest of slavery to show no emotion.  Their memories are data instead of past experiences.  Experience creates memory of reactions to situations.  When a person subconsciously relates past and present experience the present emotion is determined by past reaction.  Scott depicts this allowance through the identification tests given to determine the status of possible replicants.  The interviewer gives the subject hypothetical situations and asks for the first reaction which comes to the subject’s mind.  Replicants are identified because supposedly they cannot react with emotion.  A replicant will answer with logic or not at all due to its inability to relate through the essence of humanity, experience.  With only memories and no comparable experiences, the replicant does not know the exact response.  We as humans can determine an answer by relating the hypothetical to a memory of a past experience and our emotional reaction.  Genetic engineering poses a threat to this natural ability.  If genetic engineering develops to the extreme, parents may be able to design their children.  As this process advances humanity could become more and more alike, endangering the diversity of human experience, memory, and reaction.

As Pris attempts to win over Sebastian to the replicant cause she quotes Descartes, “I think, therefore I am.”  This seems to be a contradiction considering that repliants are based on programmed memory.  Ultimately it seems that they should exist in the realms of their memories, but they have new experiences inside and outside of their programmed memories every day.  This occurrence causes replicants to think and formulate reactions for themselves based on experience.  Ironically, replicants search for a soul in experiences away from the confines of their technology while mankind strips his own soul by allowing automation and technology to work experiences for him.

The argument that Deckard is not a replicant because of his intense emotions, extreme pain (yet durable), and ability at his profession would attempt to annul Deckard’s acquisition of the essence of humanity through experiences.  This opposition is refutable.  Deckard displays a deepening affection for Rachel because he sees her innocence and wishes her to experience his enlightenment (just as Roy does for Deckard).  This is the highest form of empathy that a replicant can show for another of its species.  Most of  Deckard’s fingers are crushed by Roy and he gets beaten heavily by Leon, another replicant.  A human could not take this much abuse and still perform at the level Deckard continues to display.  His ability as a Blade Runner could be progressive as most human traits are in development.  Instead, it is more feasible that Deckard is truly a replicant.  His emotional attachment to Rachel stems from feelings for one of his own and the facts of experience.  He has been forced to retire his own kind, thus bringing about deep emotional ties to his species.  Deckard withstands severe pain by Leon and Roy because of his replicant design and his past experiences with rebel replicants.  Deckard’s uncanny ability in his profession stem from his won experiences in the development of his soul as a replicant.  He knows his own reactions, and, so he ultimately can relate to and predict the methods of other replicants that he must retire.