Coffee and Culture- Black Mirror


For the New Year, I have decided to write a post from time to time on issues that have to do with Arts, Culture, Education, and/ or Technology.  For now, I'm going to call it "Coffee and Culture".  My goal is to highlight these issues with brief reviews for some food 4 thought discussion.

With that said, here is my first installment.

If you are a Netflix Subscriber and you are looking for some really thought provoking viewing, I would highly recommend watching the Series "Black Mirror"  *Now let me warn you right now*.  This is not for children and it often explores, as its title suggests, the dark side of technology and the dark side of humanity.  Season 1, Episode 1, is probably the most difficult to take on, so you may want to skip that episode at first.  (It might help to digest that one later).  The series is really a darker-up to-date version of The Twilight Zone, so you can watch the episodes in whatever order you would like.

So how does this relate to education or technology?   What Black Mirror successfully does is take a technology and extend it's dynamic to an often extreme length to highlight human frailties such as the corruption of power, self esteem and status, as well as, the potential for using code for devious means.  

By examining the extremes, we can perhaps make sense of the day to day technology uses and abuses to make a society built on wisdom and kindness rather than weakness and corruption. 

Anyway, if you want some more info or would like to join in on a conversation about Black Mirror, check out the links below.  Or if you're more daring, respond in a post below.

Black Mirror on Twitter
Black Mirror Facebook
Reddit Threads
IMBD Black Mirror
Black Mirror Trailer on Youtube (Not recommended for Children)

Themes that are addressed that have education threads:  Virtual Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, Technology and Status.

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