This article is part of a five-part blog series in which we look at what Black Mirror got right (and wrong!) about tech development. I’ve already taken the themes of artificial intelligence and sex in virtual reality under a loop. For this post, I’m looking at the world of social media, neurological implants, and our desire to keep a digital record of every single thing that has ever happened to us. If there was a way to store your memories forever, would you do it?
Black Mirror: A Glimpse Into the Future?
In the early days of online streaming, Black Mirror was one of the best shows to watch on Netflix. Since 2019, there have been no new episodes. However, lucky for us fans, it has been confirmed that a new season is currently in the making. Key to Black Mirror is the way the show explores the darker sides of technology. Many episodes carry an uneasy undertone when it comes to how technology affects society. Social commentary is often sinister, almost like a warning sign. But how close are we to a Black Mirror reality? And is there any way to still escape the grim future that’s depicted in the show?
A permanent record of online memories
Have you ever heard of the Mandela Effect? Years ago, I stumbled across this phenomenon when doing research for a short story I was writing. In 2009, a woman by the name of Fiona Broome had a strange experience. At a conference, surrounded by others, she recalled the tragic death of former South African president Nelson Mandela, who had died in prison in the 1980s. Broome’s memories were clear, but her recollection turned out to be entirely false; Mandela passed away in 2013. Online, however, Broome found that many other people were with her. They, too, believed that Mandela really had died in the 80s. What was going on? A parallel universe? A collective delusion? The phenomenon of large masses of people having “false memories” of a certain event is known as the Mandela Effect. There are many examples. A lot of them have to do with how people remember popular cultural moments: is it Berenstein Bears or Berenstain Bears? Did Darth Vader really say, “Luke, I am your father” — apparently, the real line is: “No, I am your father.” But then there are also groups of people who recall Mother Theresa becoming a saint in the 1990s when she was only declared a saint by Pope Francis in 2016. Here’s a thought, though: what if a device could be invented that would record everyone’s memories so we’d never have to be uncertain about the truth of what has really happened? This is the premise of Black Mirror’s episode “The Entire History of You.”
Black Mirror: The Entire History of You – Season 1, Episode 3
“The Entire History of You” is one of the first Black Mirror episodes. It was released on December 18, 2011, written by Jesse Armstrong and directed by Brian Welsh. The episode takes place in a world where people get to keep a digital record of all their memories through a tiny recording implant called a grain. What follows has spoilers for the entire episode. The grain functions like a permanent video camera, recording everything that happens, from dinner parties to work meetings. Recorded memories can be played back in two different ways: internally, within someone’s mind, and externally, on a screen. The grain even has editing options that allow you to delete memories. We follow Liam (Toby Kebbell), a young lawyer who begins to suspect that his wife, Ffion (Jodie Whittaker), may have cheated on him in the past. Emotionally spiraling out of control by this realization, he uses his grain (and Ffion’s) to replay memories and verify his suspicions. It turns out he is right: Ffion has indeed betrayed him. However, for all of his desire to see into the past—literally, frame by frame—Liam ultimately ends up worse off by knowing what he knows. The episode ends with him manically attempting to cut the grain out of his head.
Themes: A Permanent Online Record and Memory Implants
We all play back our own memories in our minds from time to time. That awkward conversation you had with your boss, a past argument with an ex-lover. Did they really say that? Did we really respond that way? Memory is known to be unreliable. Outside of our conscious control, our feelings will influence how we recall something. In a way, each and every time we remember an event, the actual memory of it becomes a bit more unstable, neurologically speaking. In discussing his inspiration for the episode, writer Jesse Armstrong states that forgetting is actually essential to successful human relationships. We wouldn’t be able to bear life if we remembered every painful or humiliating moment. Yet, we all work hard to create something of a permanent record on social media. Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You” was released at the end of 2011, right when Facebook and Twitter were among the most popular social media platforms. The temptation of an ongoing social media timeline is obvious: all your wedding photos in one place, proof of that great dinner party with friends, those flirty messages between you and someone else that show that it was good before it was bad. Of course, social media doesn’t actually record memory. In a way, it’s still only a version of events, an interpretation, something we’ve placed in a certain light or obscured with a specific filter. But what if we could design a different device? Let’s take a closer look at the tech in “The Entire History of You” and assess it on our science fact-to-science fiction scale.
Science Fact or Science Fiction: Can This Become Reality?
For each Black Mirror episode discussed in this blog series, we use a Science Fact to Science Fiction scale to determine how close we are to the technological future depicted in the episode. Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You” has the following tech developments to consider:
Tracking devices Smart glasses Neural-interface technology Memory implants
Always With You: Smartphones and Tracking Devices
Our lives are constantly recorded. Whether we’re aware of it or not, all the devices we own are tracking us. Of course, our smartphones are the biggest culprits. But do you ever think about what your fitness tracker knows? How might your car be violating your privacy? Not to mention the risks involved with your baby monitor. From our virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa to our at-home security systems, our privacy is becoming more and more limited every single day. Governments and companies are tracking us, either for security or business purposes. Today, it’s almost impossible to delete yourself from the internet. On the other hand, we’re also active participants. On social media, we willingly give up the most personal details of our lives. After all, we want to remember everything, don’t we?
Big Brother is watching you
Surveillance is increasing. In recent years, more and more countries have come under attack for violating people’s right to privacy. While you might suspect that freedom is limited in places like North Korea and Iran, the United States, too, can certainly be classified as a surveillance state. In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed the NSA to be responsible for the widespread, unconstitutional data collection on U.S. citizens. Surveillance runs deep. Besides monitoring personal communications, government institutions keep tabs on people’s browsing history all the time. There’s a reason why anonymous browsing has become so necessary. A recent report from the United Nations details how people’s right to privacy is under attack worldwide. It looks at intrusive hacking tools, the impact of digital monitoring of public spaces, and the importance of encryption methods in protecting online human rights. At the beginning of Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You,” Liam boards a flight. The TSA agent makes him scroll through a week’s worth of his memories for clearance. While this is not possible in real life, the overabundance of security footage and data collection makes it so that companies and governments can track our movements just as easily. We are constantly being watched, and our data is mined for a variety of reasons. However, we also share a lot of it voluntarily.
Privacy and social media
After watching this Black Mirror episode, it’s easy to say we would never want a grain implant. Yet, we use social media every day. TikTok and Instagram are among the most popular apps used by kids and teens—but adults are also guilty of becoming addicted to these apps. It can be great to relive precious moments, share posts about things that interest us, or know which music our friends are listening to at any moment. But, of course, it’s a double-edged sword. Because of social media, we’ve developed the need to know everything about everyone at any given time. But there are occasions when all of us might need a break from social media to find some peace. Of course, your old social media posts can haunt you for the rest of your lives. Your employer may not want to hire you after finding old tweets. For young kids growing up on social media, their parents’ desire to share everything online can be damaging later in life. And naturally, cases of revenge pornography can cause people terrible harm. Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You” warns us that it’s not always good to know everything, to be able to access every moment with a click of our fingers. But do we even have the tech for it?
The Privacy Nightmare of Smart Glasses
A few years back, Google made headlines with the announcement of its Google Glasses. In 2013, Google started selling a prototype of the product known as “Glass Explorers.” The key feature was a five-megapixel still/720p video camera. In essence, whatever was visible through the glasses could be filmed. Inventions like these bring us a little closer to the reality of “The Entire History of You.” Features include facial recognition, photo manipulation, and even an integrated video player with playback controls. Smart glasses rely on augmented reality software. They allow you hands-free access to the internet. As with any tech, they’re vulnerable to hacking. Not even two years after their release, Google had to pull the Glass Explorers from the shelves after great concern about privacy violations. At the moment, they’ve turned their attention corporate: amongst other things, the Google Glass Enterprise Edition glasses are used in the medical field. However, despite concerns about safety, costs, and privacy, development is ongoing, making the use of these types of glasses closer to science fact than science fiction.
Devices That ‘Read’ Your Mind: Neuralink
Neuralink develops neural-interface technology, more commonly known as brain implants. This Elon Musk company dreams of ways to “upgrade” the human mind. The current focus is a type of electrode chip that can be implanted in a person’s skull. The electrodes will monitor and—in theory—respond to neural activity. What is the goal of such a device? In the first place, the application would be medical. For example, people who suffer from Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s (and associated memory loss) might find their conditions improved through neural interface technology. Imagine also people with robotic prostheses being able to control these with their minds. Musk’s long-term plans are symbiosis with artificial intelligence. However, the development is not going very smoothly, and experts have their doubts. In one of the earlier presentations of Neuralink’s work, a macaque monkey was able to play a video game with its mind. This may sound impressive, but neuroscientists were quick to point out that primates with brain implants had been able to control objects on a screen before. On top of that, concerns about animal welfare in Neuralink’s experiments are high. In 2022, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine issued a 700-page complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since December 2022, Neuralink has been under investigation for the mistreatment of animals. While Neuralink’s ambitions continue to grow, there’s something highly unethical about performing brain surgery in cases where it’s not necessary. The risks are simply too high—though it doesn’t seem to stop Musk.
Alternatives
Neuralink is not the only company developing this type of tech, though most other examples have less invasive applications. A company called Inner Cosmos is already in its second stage of human trials for an implant that limits depression. The implant is inserted into the cranium, less deep than Neuralink’s probes. There are also companies that work on devices that do not have to be inserted, so-called noninvasive brain scanning systems. Kernel, for example, creates helmet-shaped tech to monitor brain activity.
Memory Playback Systems: An Actual Grain?
But what about memories? Is there actually a device out there that comes close to the grain we see in Black Mirror? In 2011, researchers at UC Berkeley managed to successfully decode and reconstruct people’s visual experiences. They used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) tech to reconstruct internal imagery. Participants watched two sets of movie trailers. Their brain activity was fed into a computer program that corresponded frame by frame with associated visual patterns. While an innovative step, it doesn’t create a Black Mirror reality yet. But in 2017, a company called MMT Neurotech made progress with resting state MRI techniques. This method scans the brain without the use of a stimulus. In other words: it maps the proper brain pathways of thoughts. In an interview with the International Business Times, Dr. Donald Marks, the founder of the company, claimed his technology was designed to help Alzheimer’s and autism patients by reshaping core memories. Strangely enough, the company seems to no longer exist. Their website has been taken offline. Recent research shows that memory engrams (neuronal spaces that hold a memory) are distributed across different brain regions rather than one. It’s safe to say that we simply don’t yet know enough about memories and how they’re stored in the brain to develop a real memory playback system or implant. Though progress is certainly made, for now, the idea of playing back memories remains safely in the science fiction sphere.
So, What’s the Verdict?
Black Mirror’s “The Entire History of You” gives us a glimpse into the future that may be closer than we think, though we’re not quite there yet. In the first place, the entire episode touches upon our ever-growing desire to record every detail of our lives. The temptation of spending lots of time on social media, posting and watching other people post, is very real. Even if we know social media negatively affects our mental health, we can’t stay away. On top of that, everything we put online may be stored forever. Data is collected constantly, and we’re always being tracked. You might want to be able to stalk your ex on social media, but what if you’re denied a job for something you posted years ago? “The Entire History of You” shows us that ignorance can be bliss, but with the ever-presence of technology in our lives, we might not be able to live any other way. Tech corporations like Google and Neuralink are constantly developing devices that will fuse our real and digital lives even more. While there might be some medical benefits, the risks are high. But regardless of privacy considerations or ethics, it seems like neurological implants are already around the corner. Fortunately—or unfortunately, if you’re Elon Musk—the brain is still very complex to master completely. It will still take a very long time before we’re fully living in this Black Mirror future. What’s your favorite Black Mirror episode? Leave a comment down below, and maybe your episode will be up next!
