I Made A Dystopian Video Eerily Like Black Mirror Before I Owned A Smartphone
Image Source: YouTube still from my video Smartphones and The Death of Pure Experience
Back in 2012 before I owned a smartphone, I spent one day pretending I was from a different planet and I observed and documented the behavior of human beings on earth.
I chose to spend the day at an entertainment spot called Sea Life while I documented and observed people's behaviors. I filmed everyone in secret and I did this by pretending to be a tourist taking photos. I was surprised by how easy it was to spy on people. Everyone was obsessed with their bright little screens and so I had no problem filming them without their knowledge. I have been doing street photography for many years and learned that if people are out in public places, you can make artistic films legally.
After the day was over I had a creepy feeling sweep over me. I then made my observations into a video which has a very uneasy and dystopian feel to it. Anyone watching Black Mirror will see some similarities.
Here's my video that was secretly filmed titled, SMARTPHONES & Death of Pure Experience:
For me, the one shot that really gave me the creeps was the one where the 3 mothers are all on their phones while the 2 girls in front of them are having a conversation. The juxtaposition is rather shocking.
If you're wanting to know where we are all headed in the near future, Black Mirror, the Netflix show, is probably a good place to start. I don't have Netflix, but I found a YouTube folder that contains many of the episodes:
The concept of 'Reputelligence' in the Black Mirror show is quite interesting when one thinks of the parellels within Steemit. Look at this tweet from the official Black Mirror Twitter account:
image source: https://www.brandwatch.com/2016/10/react-black-mirror-season-three-social-data-review/
You have to do a double take and confirm that this tweet was not coming directly from Steemit, Inc.'s future marketing director's Twitter account.
When thinking about 'Reputelligent Tips', I am immediately reminded of some Steemit users whose reputations were destroyed by being the victims of sexual harassment and speaking out against it (@anxietymaven).
Also many users who see the cracks within Steemit's design and point it out are also reputationally destroyed by abusive whales. Some people have tried to tarnish my reputation also.
Some of these normal and free thinking users who snapped under the pressure of conforming to a system that is weighted against them have spoken out and pointed out the flaws of Steemit. Some of these people have been reputationally destroyed. Of course, along with them, the trolls and stalkers and blackmailers also have been reputationally destroyed. They all acted exactly like the characters in Black Mirror who crumbled once their reputation score was reduced to zero. There's one user, @luminousvisions whose reputation has also been destroyed recently. I looked into the cause and it appears to be because he was critical of the flawed centralized power structure within Steemit. See for yourself how the parellels are exactly the same, and in fact many of these plots are actually reflecting a current reality in many kinds of digital micro communities like ours.
Some of Black Mirror's episodes are not set in the future.
They are happening now.
I have noticed your post was flagged by R4fken, well known steemit hater.
I am for justice and I am here with all my Steem Power to help you resist his hate downvotes and let your post be visible for steem users. Upvoted!
watch the last season :)
episode 1 is Steemit right now
the one about reputations?
yeap
dollar's gang just put 18 flags on my comment, so your assistance would be very much appreciated about now
Still visible though. I upvoted but that's just a drop in the ocean.
i upped but i am a minnow. not much i can do. he has a trail.
our friend has just posted again....
I really like Black Mirror in a sometimes "wow, that was hard to watch" way. I'm only a few episodes into the new season and I don't quite like it as much as the originals, but I still think it's good. It creates things in my mind I want to talk about, and that's always a plus. I was thinking the same thing about the first episode and the parallels to steemit, but as with all Black Mirror episodes, there's often many layers involved.
The people who's lives were ruined actually had no lives. They were fake. They were driven by fear and petty motivations. The girl in the truck knew this, and she's one of the few who had a genuine smile during the whole episode.
I think reputation systems are a wonderful thing because they provide alternatives to violence while exposing bad actors. It also puts pressure on people to level up their empathy and learn how to communicate with those they disagree with in a compassionate way. Some people get flagged not because they are technically "wrong" but because they have demonstrated via their choice of words, tone, and such that their care more about being right than about communicating decently. I get how some believe attacks are warranted at times, but I still think NVC is a much more effective approach.
At the same time, I appreciate the last scene of that episode. :)
I liked your video, but I also think it tells an old story. People said the same thing about the telephone. All new forms of communication and media impact the human species (as does all our technology). I don't think all people are unaware of the changes. Often, they accept them happily because it improves what they call life. For example, taking videos of those fish and posting it to Facebook means those same memories can be enjoyed again and again. If that means sacrificing the authentic moment, then I agree that's a loss. Often it's just an augmentation of it (i.e., enjoy the moment, then record another to enjoy later).
Thanks for always being thought-provoking. :)
When people create circles of favouritism excluding others from society they become violent since they constrain the very basics for survival whether that is food or even social contact.
Once again. The NAP princple which you seem to blindly worship, is vague and overly poetic. Violence can take many forms, not just physical harm. People can die from being lonely. slowly. People can die from being excluded, abandoned.
https://newrepublic.com/article/113176/science-loneliness-how-isolation-can-kill-you
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/17/health/loneliness-risk-death/
these are just two pieces. there are hundreds.
You didn't appreciate it much when I did it to your face. My whole article was based on the honest/blunt rhyme of thought. Btw I watched the episode a few days after I wrote what i wrote to my post and to you. I am the truck lady. Funny how your perception changed based on a tv series vs watching someone doing it to your face.
this also confirms the comment I made about you being "fresh" in regards to your repackaged ideology.
Maybe when you watch a couple of videos with optical and psychological illusions you can be convinced how morality and reality in general are subjective. It will take time, but as with all dogmatits, your stubborness will melt away.
I promise
Is that the same actor who also was in the latest Johnny English? :D
I don't know
I've never heard of this series and I have Netflix lol maybe I should take a closer look
I've been watching 'black mirror' in little bites. It's too disturbing to just sit back and watch all at once.
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