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Black Mirror In Real Life

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Black Mirror is a British show on netflix, that shows what could happen in the future if we become too dependent on technology. I know you probably hear it from your grandparents and parents all the time of how privileged you are or the “back in my day” stories. But we really have become so dependent on and obsessed with technology; I mean we’re called the millennials for a reason. We can’t even leave the house without our phone and we get mini heart attacks when our battery percentage is below 70%. But enough rambling, I’m going to tell you what would happen if we were living in a Black Mirror universe.

*I going to warn you that there might be a few spoilers, but each episode does have a different plot and cast.*

First scenario, which is in pretty much every episodes, is that humans will become slaves to robots/technology. It could be literal, as in we would be enslaved and have to work for computers, or it could be that technology, especially social media, will manipulate us into doing thing we don’t want to do or our secrets will be released all over the internet. And the truth is, that is already starting to happen. Children have been manipulated to play suicide games on instagram, murder other kids from influence of video games, and the least damaging, bully other kids. And I know you might be saying that social media and the internet doesn’t manipulate how you think, but that’s false. If you see your favorite celebrity make a fashion trend, then you’ll try it. If you keep getting the same movie ad on YouTube, then you will most likely want to watch that movie. You hear your favorite artist sing or rap a new phrase, then you will start saying that phrase. We are all heavily influenced from what technology has provided . And you might hear that we have the freedom to every bit of information at our fingertips, but we are actually losing our freedom with every comment, post, and picture we take. If taking a picture with a filter on snapchat can scan your face into a database, just imagine what the iPhone X can do every time you unlock your phone.

Which leads us to the second scenario, which is we are already in the future. One episode of the show, had a guy who scanned his face and turned into an animated character, who hacked into the internet of political figures and exposed their ill intentions. And it is very similar to the animated emojis the new iPhone X has. In fact, Black Mirror has made some very strong predictions that are very possible of happening. The show made an episode of rating people, so if you have a low rating, you are the lower class, whereas higher rated people are the higher class. Which has happened already with apps like tinder and uber. The higher rating you have in these apps, the most likely you are picked and the better you are treated, but I will say the rating system is efficient for both apps.

The final scenario, which I think is the most true about today’s society, is that we will be the most separated we’ve been in all history. In almost every episode, it has been shown that people will become isolated and segregated. One way is countries’ traditions will slowly disappear. You might not believe it but it’s true, some countries’ history is being destroyed, such as monuments being taken down and historical building being burned down. Riots have destroyed cities and relationships between communities. Terrorism and mass shootings have multiplied because of social media and the news. And even the threats of a nuclear war over petty twitter fights.

In conclusion, advanced technology was made to make life easier and more efficient, but it has ruined our society and morals as humans. We are getting our natural birthrights as humans taken away because if it. And I’m not saying that it needs to be destroyed, but you should aware of what happens when you play your favorite app, take a picture or upload a post on social media. And I think watching the show will open your eyes on how dangerous the internet can be, so I definitely recommend this show.

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Black Mirror In Real Life