Would a psychopath create a false positive Voight-Kampff test result?
The Voight-Kampff test (the so-called "empathy test") in the film has been bothering me for some time...
It is acknowledged in the film that the test can give a false negative - Rachael would have given a false reading in a normal test, as would the other Nexus 6's, according to Tyrell.
At some point Rachael asks if Deckard has ever "retired" a human by mistake but he dodges the question and answers something else: "Simulants are either a benefit or a hazard. If they're a benefit, it's not my problem".
So, as the VK test measures empathy and reactions to things that most people would find distasteful, would a psychopath create a false positive? Or would there be other mental illnesses/personality disorders that might cause a false positive?
Best Answer
Since there is no VK test to, well test, there can be no definitive disproval, but... The stated purpose of the test is merely an effective ruse. In such a way that is how "lie-detector" tests are employed. The placebo is better than no seemingly objective leverage.
Obviously "blade runners" are judge, jury and executioners. So yes! Simply put, all positives depend upon the tester. I'd say the device is more of one to the plot. It is a jumping off point for the scientist in us to speculate what is outside of "reality" and take our understanding of what is "human", to question in a way that cannot be quantified.
The crux of the story is in our feeling doubt and therefore remorse. Understood artistically, the subject switches places with the object. The test giver has to employ empathy and make determinations about humanity. That neatly explains evasiveness Deckard has about his "retirements." Also it exposes his doubt as to his own humanity.
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Is the Voight-Kampff real?
At the center of the question is a fictional test designed to distinguish between replicants and humans, called the Voight-Kampff test. It elicits emotions in the test subject that replicants supposedly can't have, then monitors physiological responses, like pupillary motion and reaction time.What is the purpose of the Voight-Kampff test?
The Voight-Kampff test was a test used as of 2019 by the LAPD's Blade Runners to assist in determining whether or not an individual was a replicant. The test measured bodily functions such as respiration, heart rate, blushing and pupillary dilation in response to emotionally provocative questions.Is the Voight-Kampff test a Turing test?
If a machine manages to deceive 30% of the judges, it will have passed the Turing Test. A variation of this test, devised by the mathematician Alan Turing in 1950, is the so-called Voight-Kampff Test, which is what the Blade Runners use to detect replicants.Does Deckard take the Voight-Kampff test?
Deckard takes the Voight-Kampff test and passes, confirming that he is a human. Harrison Ford, who played Deckard in the film, has said that he did not think Deckard is a replicant, and has said that he and director Ridley Scott had discussions that ended in the agreement that the character was human.Blade Runner - Voight-Kampff Test (HQ)
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Answer 2
It is unfortunately a very difficult question to answer from the movie alone. Yes, the VK test is challenged in the movie by Rachel - and that it takes very many more questions for Deckard to conclude that she is a Replicant - but that is about the extent of the analysis of the test in the movie. One can imagine from this scenario where a Replicant with artificial human memories almost fools the test, that a human with emotional issues involving empathy may not test as a human. However that (and the opening scene) is the extent of the use of the test in the movie - to introduce empathy as a key difference between humans and replicants, but also to blur the boundary between the two.
The novel from which the movie is loosely adapted (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) the test is discussed in more detail. In the society of the novel most animals in the world have been wiped out, and most if not all humans keep one or more animals as pets. To not care for one or more animals would be unusual. Deckard owns an 'electric sheep' a replica animal, but wishes he could afford a more expensive real pet and is planning to spend his bounty money on one. The fact that he has not to date put enough of a priority on owning a real animal despite his good job is a suggestion in the movie that perhaps Decard's humanity is questioned. As a result the VK test in the novel seems particularly geared towards questions about empathy towards animals, or even insects - as abusing or killing even an insect would be taboo in this society.
In the novel, the issue surrounding the validity of the test, and indeed the validity of Deckard's claim to being human at all - is challenged by his discovery of an entire shadow police department, staffed by what he believes are androids. The blade-runner from this alternative police department uses an entirely different test to distinguish android from human - one that relies on the speed of reflex actions. The two blade runners distrust each other and debate whether one or the other is an android and whether they should take one or other of the tests.
The key thing from both the movie and the novel is the question .. what is human? The validity of the test ceases to be important in both.
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