Are You A Human Or A Replicant? Take Blade Runner's "Voight-Kampff Test" To Find Out...
- by Sosa Manuel
- – on
- in Movies and TV
Blade Runner 2049 has just been released and people are starting to go crazy about this amazing movie franchise once again. The setting of this movie is incredible, and it goes along with the same tone as the original. This movie succeeded in making cyber-punk and cyber-noir mainstream, and the impact it had on this genre lives on to this day. People simply loved this movie, and it's widely considered to be one of the best movies of all time. But what made this movie so amazing? While there are many factors to consider, you have to accept that the replicants played a major role.
This was a completely new way of imagining robots, as these replicants looked and behaved exactly like humans. Well - maybe not entirely. There was one surefire way to tell a replicant from a human, and that was with the "Voight-Kampff" test. This tested the subject's empathetic response to a series of specially-designed questions, and measured things like involuntary pupil dilation. Deckard administers this test to many subjects, and he is able to routinely identify a replicant after about 20-30 questions, cross-referenced. But there are some that are harder to identify - the experimental replicants who think they are human. But which one are you?
While some of the questions are completely original, many are taken directly from the film and/or the original story by Philip K. Dick.
You Are A Blade Runner Who Is Tasked With Hunting Replicants. After Retiring One, How Do You Feel?
The Voight-Kampff test examines a candidate on many different levels, but perhaps the most interesting thing about these tests is the way in which candidates feel about replicants. In the case of replicants, it's testing how they feel about other replicants, because they feel very specific emotions about them.
You're At A Circus When The Elephant Fails To Perform Its Trick. As A Result, The Trainer Shocks Him With A Cattle Prod. How Do You React?
Some might not be aware of this, but the original Blade Runner was based on a novel by Philip K. Dick called "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" In this book, animals were so rare that most people's pets were replicants, just like the replicant humans that Decker hunts. But how you feel about animals is rather telling...
It's Your Birthday. Someone Gives You A Calfskin Wallet. How Do You React?
This is one of the Voight-Kampff test questions from the original Blade Runner movie. You can really see how uncomfortable people get when they're given this test, but in order to know why, you have to understand how replicants work. They are essentially just imitators - they take cues from the world around them.
A Young Girl Comes To Your Door To Raise Money For Charity. You Give Her $50, But Then Realize You Need That Money For Groceries. What Do You Do?
It's obvious that replicants think in very different ways than humans. This is obvious by the actors who portray the replicants, who act in a very unsettling way. But in the end we are left to wonder if the replicants really are any less human than we are... Does the Voight-Kampff test really mean anything?
It's Your First Day On The Job At A New Kitchen. The Head Chef Asks You To Prepare A Stew Of Freshly Killed Cats. How Do You Proceed?
Here's another question that follows the same format as most of the questions written down in the Blade Runner script. Replicants might give all kinds of answers to this question, but most humans would give the same or similar answers. But the real question is, how would you answer this question...
You've Got A Little Boy. He Shows You His Butterfly Collection - Plus The Killing Jar. How Do You React?
Here's another question taken directly from the original Blade Runner movie. This question was asked by Rick Deckard when he was testing Rachael. As you probably know, Rachael is "special" because she believes herself to be a human. It takes over 100 questions for Deckard to find this out.
You Are Walking Along The Edge Of A Cliff. You Stumble And Push A Replicant Off The Edge By Mistake. How Does This Make You Feel?
Replicants are tested by the Voight-Kampff test to see if they have the same level of empathetic responses as normal human beings. This is the primary thing that separates humans from replicants - empathy. While most replicants feel empathetic towards humans, their attitudes towards other replicants is very telling...
You Construct A Large Window In Your New House. Days Later, A Bird Flies Into It, Dying Instantly. How Do You Proceed?
As you might have guessed, a replicant's attitude towards animals also plays a major role in the questions of the Voight-Kampff test. Many of the questions concern the treatment of animals by humans. What this says about replicants is up to you to find out - but the main thing is to answer this question...
You're Watching Television. Suddenly You Realize There's A Wasp On Your Arm.
This is another question taken right from the original movie. You probably remember this from the scene with Rachel and Deckard, when Deckard is giving the test to Rachel at Tyrell's encouragement. Obviously many of these questions are designed to make people uncomfortable.
You Are Eating Dinner When You Notice A Fly In Your Soup. The Waiter Tells You This Is Part Of The Dish. How Do Your React?
Here's another question designed to elicit an emotional response. Obviously this is a situation that would be pretty disgusting, but how would you react? If you're starting to think to yourself, "How would a human react?" You're thinking like a replicant already! Just try to answer the questions naturally...
What Do You Think About Death?
Death is something that most humans think about, and most of us are more than a little traumatized by it. After all, it means we leave this existence forever, regardless of what you believe about the afterlife. For replicants, this matter is even more pressing, because they only live for four years...
You're Reading A Magazine. You Come Across A Full-Page Nude Of A Girl. You Show It To Your Partner. They Like It So Much, They Hang It On Their Bedroom Wall.
Here's another question from the famed scene between Deckard and Rachel. It's obvious that this test is designed to make Rachel feel uncomfortable, and it's working. At the end of the test, it is revealed that Rachel thinks she is human. Tyrell reveals that she is an experiment, part of Tyrell Corp's mission to create "more human than human" replicants.
Your Son Answers A Question Wrong And Is Beaten By The Teacher. How Do You Respond?
Obviously one big difference between a replicant and a human is the fact that humans are able to reproduce and have families. Obviously replicants cannot do this, because they are created rather than born. As such, they have no real memories of what it's like to have a family - although some have fake memories.
You Are Walking Two Rottweilers On Leashes When They Break Free And Rip A Cat Apart Before Your Eyes.
It's pretty well-known that a sociopath doesn't really care about animals. But that's when things get difficult with the Voight-Kampff test. What happens when humans are wrongly tested to be replicants after a Voight-Kampff session? In truth, that is a possibility, but it's rather slim, because the test factors in other inputs...
You Flip A Tortoise Over On Its back. Its Belly Is Baking And It Needs Your Help To Flip Over, But You're Not Helping. Why Is That?
Here's another rather iconic question from the Voight-Kampff test that you probably all remember: You're In A Desert Walking Along In The Sand. You Reach Down, You Flip The Tortoise Over On Its back. Its Belly Is Baking In The Hot Sun, Beating Its Legs Trying To Turn Itself Over, but it can't, not without your help. But you're not helping. Why is that?" This question is enough to make anyone uncomfortable. But how would you answer it?
You Decide To Go On A Walk When You See A Little Girl. Upon Closer Inspection, She Is Chasing A Dog. The Dog Has Her Severed Hand In Its Mouth.
Here's another question that follows the same basic format as the rest of the Voight-Kampff questions, although this one did not appear in the Blade Runner movie. It's clear that this question is meant to make the subject uncomfortable, but the real question is how the subject will answer this question.
Describe In Single Words, Only The Good Things That Come Into Your Mind About Your Mother.
Here's another iconic question taken straight from the movie. For those who remember the opening scene of this film, it will remind you of how deadly replicants can be. Because this is the scene where Leon gets up and kills the Blade Runner who is running the test opposite him... But how will you answer?
You Become Pregnant By A Man Who Runs Off With Your Best Friend. You Decide To Get An Abortion.
Here's another question taken from the original film. This question involves something that would make most women feel very uncomfortable. You have to remember that the Voight-Kampff test also studies things like dilation of the pupils, and other involuntary emotional responses. But how would you answer this question?
You Return Home To Find A Mouse In Your Fridge
Everyone's worst nightmare. Well, maybe not everyone's worst nightmare, but it would definitely be enough to seriously freak some people out. Again, we're looking at your reaction towards animals, but this one is a little more complex than some of the more basic empathy-based questions...
A Man Shows You His Genuine, 100 Percent Babyhide Briefcase
This question is actually from the book on which Blade Runner was loosely based - "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" If you enjoy the setting and tone of Blade Runner, you might want to give this amazing book a read. It also goes into more depth about certain areas. But how would you answer this question?
The Guests Are Enjoying An Appetizer Of Raw Oysters. The Entree Consists Of Boiled Bog Stuffed With Rice. The Raw Oysters Are Less Acceptable To You Than A Dish Of Boiled Dog.
Here's another question from the Blade Runner movie (the original). This is actually the question that trips Rachel up during her interrogation by Decker, and her response reveals her to be a replicant (finally), after almost 100 questions, cross-referenced. This question is another one that will make you uncomfortable...
Somebody Orders Lobster, And The Chef Drops The Lobster Into The Tub Of Boiling Water While The Characters Watch
Here's another question taken from the novel on which Blade Runner was based, "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep." The Characters Are Visiting Fisherman's Wharf In San Francisco. They Become Hungry And Enter A Seafood Restaurant. One Of Them Orders Lobster, And The Chef Drops The Lobster Into The Tub Of Boiling Water While The Characters Watch. With this question, the Blade Runner is asking the replicant a question about a play based on the "old world," which is our present day. In their time, animals are so rare that this would never happen.
A Replicant Has The Chance To Kill You But Does Not. How Do You Respond?
The climax of the original Blade Runner movie is when Decker confronts the leader of the Replicants on a rooftop. Decker is hanging off the ledge of the building, when the replicant does something unexpected - he saves Decker's life, hoisting him up. This is the first time we start to see replicants as human.
You Put A Toad In A Pot Of Water, And Slowly Let The Water Boil Until It Dies
Some say that people who treat animals badly stand a good chance of growing up to be sociopaths. But what about the people who created the replicants in the first place? Aren't they sociopaths? They created a race of slaves with the intelligence of humans, with a lifespan of only 4 years...
You Approach An Eye Doctor Who Is Unwilling To Operate On You. How Do You Proceed?
One of the most iconic scenes in the Blade Runner movie involves an eye doctor who creates the eyes for the replicants. He is approached by the replicants, who need an operation done in order to escape the authorities. But the eye doctor is not cooperative at first. I think we all know what the replicants did... But what would you do?
