This week’s class consisted of three articles, three videos, and one Black Mirror episode. In our Black Mirror episode, White Christmas, we see three short stories. Matthew coaches Harry to use a device to reach Jenifer at a party, which helps Matthew to see, hear, and speak to Harry as he makes a move on her. In the beginning, we see how in practical terms, this kind of technology can come to be used, similar to the Google Glass we have today. But in the end, the twist, which depicts Jenifer as mentally ill, also takes a turn in the way this scene should be perceived. Taking the story to the road of madness helps the spectator to concentrate his attention on the difference between the two characters, on how their feelings come to mind, and how they vary in that respect.
A thought experiment that is ancient as the practice of philosophy itself in the second story where Greta tries to literally split her mind from her body. In this scene, there are a lot of elements that display the inconsistencies that come to mind about the probability of this kind of separation, and moreover, whether this kind of distinction is even possible between mind and body. Nevertheless, I like how this scene shows how not only social affairs and physical desires such as sex, tiredness, and hunger inflict human suffering, but even if you take all of this away, and only sit in a state of thought, this alone can cause great misery. With respect to the moment that Mathew prefers to drift the time in the subjective sense of being of Greta. You can’t help feel deep empathy for the agony that Greta the electronic egg is going through when Matthew presses the button to advance in time for six months.
It can be shown how Joe creates the gender and character of his child by imagination alone, only to find out he is incorrect, and the child he was watching is not even his. In addition, Joe confesses his wrong act of attacking Beth’s father at the end of the episode, but as in the case of Greta, the audience knows that the whole confession took place only in the mind of Joe. The following scene indicates that this sort of confession copied from the original Joe from a “cookie mind” is adequate to convict him in court.
In one of our articles, If It Doesn’t Spread, It’s Dead, we read about culture. The word culture comes from agricultural metaphors: the analogy was to cultivate the human mind just like one cultivates the land. The assertion of human will and agency over nature is thus reflected by culture. As such, cultures are not something that happens to us but we collectively build cultures. Certainly, every person can be affected by the culture around them by the fashion, media, speech and ideas that fill their everyday lives, but by the choices they make, individuals make their own contributions to their cultures.
We must ask ourselves questions everyday, who are we and want do we stand for. What did you get out of this episode? Which part was your favorite? How do you feel with your identity?
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This episode invoked several different emotions because of the complexities of the situations. I think overall, the episode poses questions of our morality. Like, “How far would you go?” and “Are you okay with this?” I think that Joe was not a very nice person and that he seems to take pleasure in torturing the cookies. He doesn’t seem to have any remorse and even as they open up to him and show real human emotion, he brushes it off for his own personal gain. Joe maybe got what he deserved at the end by being cut off from human interaction.
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This episode was complex but very entertaining. my favorite part was watching how Michael assisted the man on his date and how it ended with him dead. I did not expect that. The fact that she was someone that hears voices and say the guy “talking to himself” she automatically assumed that he wanted to end his life to stop the voices That was not Michael’s fault but he didn’t report the death. his punishment was too severe for my liking. he cant see or talk to anyone for the rest of his life. That is unbelievable and hard to imagine. Some people wish that they were invisible but not to this extreme.
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This episode was bananas. This was my favorite episode when I first watched it, but watching it agin just angered me even more that the girlfriend should’ve just spoken up instead of not facing her problems. It’s one thing to cheat, but block me for eternity just to not broadcast the truth is justifiable for why he went insane. I feel like my identity is sacred and learning process that I wouldn’t give to a chip. The way the person was treated in the cookie to me was her subconscious and was a part of her existence. I don’t think that should be something to be played with.
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