Is “Black Mirror” a science fiction or a prediction of our future?

Are you tired of searching for your future mate in dating apps? What do you think of life after death? What about recording every single moment of your life or living in an awesome simulator in which you fulfill all your desires?

The TV series “Black Mirror” faces a mirror in front of us, the viewers, to understand if humanity is ready to cope with the massive technology changes we see every day.

Do Social networks keep us loved and popular, or jealous and lonely?

When was the last time you “liked” a photo of a friend of yours, comment to a status or wished “Happy Birthday” on the different social networks, only because you wanted your friends to “like” you back, comment or compliment on things you post? In other words, stay relevant in this social network world. “Black Mirror” gives an example of a world in which people rank their colleges and friends, so that if you are ranked higher, your life is better (better deals on flights, renting cars, hitchhiking, etc.). If you are a kind and “normal” person, you might think this is a perfect world for you to live in, where you can live a cheap and happy life. However, as the episode shows, ranking other people might be problematic. Everyone has a bad day every now and then, and such a day might affect your rank and ruin your perfect and calm life, since gaining back your high rank is mostly impossible. Therefore, maybe we should respect and support each other for real, and for being popular on any social network. Social networks replaced our social life almost completely, lets hope that in the future we will still be able to meet people for coffee in a coffee shop and not in a virtual life.

Afraid to die? Let’s live forever!

In another episode, we are introduced to a world with new technology in which you can save your entity on a hard disk and you are transferred to a virtual world where you live forever in any age you desire. Sounds great, because who wouldn’t like to live forever in his/her teen life? Well, this may be fun, but what happens if you get stuck in a world with people you don’t want to see or suffer in? You may live forever, but is it worth it if you “live” in a hard disk with no control on your life? I am not sure about that…

Record and relive any moment in your life

“Black Mirror” presents a technology where a smart chip is installed in your head, allowing you to record everything you see at any time. Think to yourself how cool it could be to relive your last trip to Hawaii, or celebrate your third birthday once again? Now that’s cool!

But what about your privacy rights? What will happen if someone hacks your chip and gains access to your personal life? Not so cool now, right?

So, is technology good for us?

“Black Mirror” presents a variety of stories that show how new technology may ease our life, but also ruin it on the other hand. We shouldn’t be afraid to use new technology, and in my opinion, we should even embrace it. However, we should not let these technologies control our life, and remember that living a real life is much more realistic than living a virtual one.