Did Ash II Have a Hidden Agenda?

Part One: The Summary

In the episode of Black Mirror that we watched in class, we see that the main character (Martha) and her boyfriend Ash were a couple that were living together but having communication issues because of Ash's obsession with social media and the internet. One day Ash leaves to go somewhere (Even though I was watching that part I still end up missing where exactly he was going and what he was doing and for that I apologize) and never returns. He then is found to be dead and the next scene we see is Martha talking to a woman outside of the funeral hall (I want to say that was her sister but I'm not 100% sure about that). The woman says that there was this new technology that was still in its early stages and that she would sign Martha up for it. The program was designed to embody the personality of a person and pretty much act just like them. Martha of course says no to the offer but the woman signs her up for it anyway. She then gets a text message, which she initially ignores. A couple of scenes later, we see her send a text back and a conversation starts to unfold. After a couple of text messages, Ash II suggests that they begin talking over the phone instead of texting. She gives in and they begin talking. We then suddenly see that she begins talking to Ash II all through out the day. She talks to him while she's at the doctors office, while she's at home, while she's taking a walk in the plains, etc. There is even a clip where she drops her phone and freaks out because she thought that she had lost Ash II forever. The next thing that we see is Ash II mentioning that a new technology had been discovered, but was very pricey, and could take their communication to the next level. She buys the thing and Ash II suddenly becomes a real person that she can touch and feel and have sex with. Overtime though, she begins to dislike him. She says things such as, "You're not enough of him" and "You're not him". She has two or three fights with him and eventually leads him to a cliff and asks him to jump. He doesn't want to but he submits to her wishes which causes another fight because the real Ash wouldn't just jump. He then begins to plead for his life and suddenly the scene changes. Martha is no longer pregnant and her child looks to be between 8-12. It was her birthday and Martha leads the child up to the attic to say hello to Ash which is when the show ends.

Part Two: My Argument 

I believe Ash II had a hidden agenda. I don't know what that agenda was and that's not what my argument is about, but I do believe I have evidence to show that Ash II had some kind of agenda. First of all, he makes the first step in every advancement in their relationship. He goes from somebody who texts Martha to someone who talks to Martha to someone who physically touches Martha. I believe one of the agendas of his was maybe to reach that final state. To reach the state of being a body and not just a automatic text message thing. Second of all, he begins to show emotion at the cliff scene. The entire episode, Ash II doesn't seem to have a personality. He seems to be an exact copy of Ash and be horrendously awkward. But, at the cliff scene we actually see a sign of emotion: that emotion being fear. Maybe that was one of his objectives too? To reach a state of conscious emotion or a state of having a personality on his own and not just be a replica of someone else? Or, maybe his purpose was to collect data and report it back to "headquarters" or something because the text message stage was still a prototype and the physical body stage was a prototype as well so maybe it was a trial run? Maybe his purpose was supposed to reach the body stage and give feedback to the creators to find out what still needs to be worked out or what needs to be added? What do you guys think? (PS I never said Ash II's purpose was evil or bad. I never said it was good either. I just think he had a purpose regardless of what that purpose might have been).

Thanks for reading!

Kel Nesbitt

SafeTeam Overview

SafeTeam is an app that can be downloaded onto any iWatch that helps with smaller social issues that have not escalated to the legal level. These issues can range from simple public discomfort to direct bullying. When the police cannot yet get involved, SafeTeam is on the job. In having someone else come in to help the user get out of a nasty situation, the involvement of the police is avoided, and less trouble is caused; and if the problem cannot be avoided, at least damage control can be enacted. With further advancement, SafeTeam is planning on applying their software on other watches and devices such as bracelets, earrings, etc. I like the idea of this because it further increases the discreteness of SafeTeam's program. In doing this, SafeTeam's program usage can be far more reliable and successful, as well as being more affordable and available to more users. One of the outstanding qualities of this product is the algorithm software that spreads the contact area when requesting for a SafeTeam member. Since the device's range first starts at about five meters when looking for a SafeTeam member, chances of finding one are slim when you are outside of a more populated area. So, to make up for this, the range increases every time a member is not found. This solves the problem for people that live out in rural areas. In using the SafeTeam's product, more conflicts can be avoided or made less severe but just having one helpful person come in and solve the issue.

Depression And Technology

Affecting around 15 million American women, men and children, depression has unfortunately become one of the world’s most easily recognized mood disorders. While the development of depression can occur around any age, the median age for depression is around the age of 32 years old. Statistically proven that women are in fact more susceptible to depression than men, some have developed clinics specifically for women struggling with depression. Another shocking statistic is the fact that one in thirty-three children have been diagnosed with clinical depression, while a jaw dropping one in eight adolescents have been diagnosed with the deadly disorder.

Along with the increasing amounts of people being diagnosed with depression also comes the increase in the amount of suicides, suicide attempts along with suicidal thoughts and the potential development of a completely new disorder. While counseling and medication are often times prescribed to suffice the terrifying symptoms, many suggest and imply that it simply does not work. With the steadily rising number of adolescents being diagnosed with depression, students have come up with an alternate, surprising solution to the social problem. In my opinion, the development and production of Wiretap headphones will help guide young adults to a positive alternative.

Wiretap, presented as a form of stylish headphones, is designed to detect dangerous brain activity and react to it with accuracy by playing music to help stop certain brain waves. Accompanied with Bluetooth, Wiretap can connect to your phone so it can have access to important contacts in case of an emergency. In other words, if a person is going through a depression relapse and puts on the headphones, music is ideally played to get them out of that state of mind; after this process, Wiretap is supposed to send a message to the person’s phone to ask if they are ok. If there is no response within fifteen minutes, the emergency contacts will receive a message.

Alone Together

A girl sits alone in a bar. She is an easy target for all predators, and it would be easy to bring some kind of harm to her. This chance at harm to her would be significantly reduced if she had someone with her, but she is alone, letting people take advantage of the situation. The next day, she regrets ever going out at all, and she vows not to go out ever again due to the terrible experience. This shouldn’t happen. People should be able to go out into the world and have a good time without the constant threat that someone might act against them.

Part of the problem with going out alone is that you don’t feel like anyone will help. Even in large crowds, it is easy for everyone to look away and think that someone else will help those who are in need. What people truly need in these situations is a friend, or, at the very least, someone who will look out for them. If they had that, then they might be safe. If more people had such people to look out for them, they’d feel more free to go out and have fun. That is where SafeTeam comes into play.

SafeTeam is both an app and a website that helps people to not be so alone when they are practically anywhere. People who use the app can alert others in the area when they feel that they are in some kind of danger or if they are simply uncomfortable with the people around them. Others who have that app will be told when someone in their area needs them and how dangerous the situation is. Different colored leaves represent different levels of threats and urgency, so those who have a chance to help can use that to determine if they would really be of any use.

I personally like this idea. It is smart to enlist the help of people who you might be able to help as well. There are only some parts of SafeTeam that concern me. I feel like people could easily take advantage of this system, just like how many apps like this and Pokemon Go have been used to target others, and people with ill intentions might target those who are in a vulnerable condition. They said that they will have a test so that these kinds of people can be weeded out, but I still have my doubts that people who take the test won't just answer in the way they know they are supposed to answer. Also, if they use social security numbers to perform background checks, I think a lot of people might not use the app as they might think it could be a means of a scam. I also believe that some people might still ignore the pleas of others even though they have the app, and then the app might become useless. I think these problems need to be properly addressed before I would ever be willing to get such an app.

Watch For Those Tricky Kids

It can be difficult to pull oneself away from television screens, computers, and phones. There are simply too many distractions, and it can have some serious consequences. I, for one, use these devices to procrastinate on the work I need to complete for class. I could easily get the work done if I would just get off of the internet. My levels of procrastination for class aren't the only things affected by these black mirrors. While I waste my time on sites like Tumblr and Youtube, I could be exercising and losing weight. I am actually obese and my actions of playing on the computer all night have only worked to worsen my weight. The only exercise I seem to get is when I’m walking from class to class, and that’s barely anything at all.

However, I am not the only one ensnared by these technologies. People of all ages find it hard to avert their attention away from electronics like them. The number of people who are obese had been rapidly increasing over the years, and this trend could be partly caused by televisions, phones, and computers. Since people are so engrossed in their phones, they don’t take the time to get out and exercise, and they might even be more likely to reach for meals that are unhealthy but faster to make than healthy meals.

WatchIt! is both a wristband and an app that hopes to combat obesity in adolescents and children. The app blocks the use of six of the most used apps until the user has exercised a certain amount, or walked a certain distance. It calculates this distance with the watch, which sends the information to the phone. The watch is colorful to attract the attention of small children, but it is my belief that this could be used for almost any age. If adults used it for their own purposes rather than the child’s, they could be able to change the setting, so they wouldn’t have to do the work. However, it would give them more incentive to stay off their phones and get the exercise they need. I also believe that this watch and app could somehow be transferred to computers and televisions. 

My only real concern for the device is that it only blocks up to six apps. I don’t know if the app could differentiate between games that children play on their phones and apps that might actually be necessary to them. I also know that children can be terribly clever, with emphases on terrible. I could easily imagine a situation where a kid might have multiple apps that he might play on until the app considers it to be the one they are on the most, and then that kid will just go to play on a different app until the same thing happens. It could be an endless loop if they have enough apps. I think that problem needs to be addressed more.

Finding Their Place As a Potential Company

This group chose to tackle a problem that a lot of us know about, because it surrounds all of us, even if we don't realize it. To summarize, this group proposed an invention that would make life easier for homeless people, especially in light of the recent criminalization of homelessness. After presenting some very moving statistics, this group showed us their solution: a kiosk that allows homeless people in certain areas to access some basic necessities. Using their hand print, users can receive a care package with basic toiletries, water, a blanket, socks, and vouchers for shelters and soup kitchens. After pitching such a wonderful idea, it was hard to believe that this group didn't make it to the finals. Seeing such a promising group go first made me feel both hopeful and nervous, because I felt like my group could do well also, but I wasn't sure if we'd be able to compete.
If you've ever driven in Memphis, chances are you've seen at least one homeless person along the way. It is impossible to deny that homelessness is a serious issue in Memphis, as well as in the entire nation. With many states criminalizing homelessness, it becomes an even bigger problem. Last night, my friends and I read an article that said some cities are going to start fining homeless people $1300 for sleeping on sidewalks. Not only is this absurd because we should be helping homeless people instead of hurting them, but it's also absurd because homeless people don't have $1300 or a house to mail the fine to. What kind of world do we live in where we charge people for living on the streets instead of helping them? That's part of why I liked this group so much. I felt that they went about creating their solution to homelessness in a smart, compassionate way.
I think that providing homeless people with care packages and vouchers is such a generous idea. And I think that most groups had the same plan of going through the government as a way of funding their solution. However, I think that this group could have added a donation feature to their kiosk, they could raise even more money and better fund their project. This would be beneficial, because people would be so willing to give their money to this kind of organization, especially in the winter. Another thing that this group pointed out was the people don't always feel safe giving their money to organizations through the internet or over the phone, and allowing people to donate through the kiosk would eliminate this kind of skepticism.

Promoting Health in the 901 through Memphis Healthy Habits

First of all, I want to say that I really enjoyed this presentation and loved the idea that was behind it! I think that Memphis Healthy Habits addresses a very important issue which plagues America. There is no doubt that the issue of obesity can be seen very clearly in the United States, especially in Memphis and other major cities in the South. It was very clear that there was a lot of research backing this project up, which helped make Nicholson, Clare, and Michael all seem super competent about the issue of obesity and comfortable talking about it to the class in order to spread awareness of it.

Memphis Healthy Habits provides so many resources and so much information about ways to be healthy and active in our city. I have only lived here for a few months and I honestly had no idea how much there was here in Memphis to promote healthy lifestyle choices for the inhabitants of Grind City. This presentation left me wanting to become more active in my everyday life and inspired me to become a lot more conscious about what I put in my body and I feel that anyone who visits this website would feel the same way! It serves as a great tool to open people’s eyes to the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle and make them become more educated on how they can improve the choices they make in their day to day lives, ultimately bathing the way for an overall happier and healthier lifestyle. The educative aspect is really useful in that instead of just telling people “eat this instead of that” or “do this work out regimen to get a bikini body,” it explains why different foods are necessary to achieve a healthy diet and emphasizes why it is important for everyone to exercise daily.

What I found to be really unique about Memphis Healthy Habits is that it compiles a large number of resources in one web-based service so that it can address a wide variety of topics having to do with health and wellness in the Memphis area. This website offers so many health-oriented events,  awesome workout plans, and yummy recipes to the Memphis community. It really seemed like there was something available on Memphis Healthy Habits to appeal to almost everyone, offering the most amount of help possible to the greatest amount of people. 

Watch out for WatchIt!

I absolutely loved the WatchIt App and wrist device presentation. I think it addresses not only one of the most prevalent issues in America today for children and adolescents but also one of the most heart-breaking. Whenever I think back on what I used to fill my time with as a child, it always involved being active and/or outside. I loved running around my grandfather’s big back yard during the summer, going to my neighborhood park after school, playing basketball, and doing cheer. My mom also was very concerned with her own eating habits, which always translated to the way she prepared food for me and taught me about nutrition and health. I never had to worry about being obese because there were adults in my life who invested time into my health and wellness.
So today, when I see children who are obese, which apparently one third in America are, it makes me so sad for them. An active and healthy childhood is one that every child deserves. It is something that every parent should want for their children and push them to be achieving. For parents that realize this, the WatchIt App and wrist device is a great place to start. In a world like today’s, where children can work a phone by the time they are two, we must reassess how we encourage children to be healthy and active and think in the same that they do; and I think that this presentation does just that.
This wrist device and app that Jared, Peyton, and Piper created seems attainable for the average American family and their children and very easy to use.  I honestly wish that something like it already existed because it has potential to be so useful to families interested in getting their children to be more active and healthy. I love that children can share their progress on the app, which will help with its popularity. I think that if the concern for children’s physical health was as trendy as the newest Apple Watch or iPhone is today, America would be a much healthier and (hopefully) a happier place. If this app and wrist device pair were really put into action, I think it could become greatly popular and make a huge impact on the obesity epidemic happening in this country. Seriously, please go on Shark Tank and make this world a better place!! 

Inovating inventions

There are so many unsafe conditions that us humans have to take caution of. especially when it comes to taking care of our bodies and watching what we insert into them. if we are not careful we may insert harmful and dangerous chemicals into our bodies without even knowing it. in some cases, we have evil people in the world who try to make those decisions for us (what to insert into our bodies) so they contaminate our drinks when we are unaware at parties. these issues eventually lead to intoxication and rape.

I was very pleased with the inventions that my classmates have come up with so far. There were two projects that have inventions that can prevent or and or aid the issues of rape and illegal or harmful substances called "Safesip" and "Bucca-Near-u".

Watching What I Drink

SafeSip is just great in many ways. I know I am not the only one who wants to buy that and have it hanging off of my keys and popping it in my water. Especially since I used to live in California where the water IS NOT CLEAR unless its bottled or has a filter on the hydrant. it is just something that can solve a minor problem which could eventually lead up to major problems. for instance if someone lived in flint this invention would sky rocket in sales just due to the severity of the lead in the water which would always need to double checked. Safe sip is also cool looking and all in the convenience of a keychain.

There is a Buc Near Me

Bucca-Near-U is just one more way to stay safe on my college campus. lets also mention that it is a FREE app that we are able to use to report any suspicious behavior going on near us. another plus is that we can do it anonymously. with me being a commuter this can be very useful in my hands when it comes to walking back to my car which can vary from the liberty bowl parking lot all the way to the back end of Christian brothers. I watch way too many scary movies and when I am walking alone I start playing that classical tense Jaws music in my head like I'm being followed or about to be attacked.  this app can help to reassure my safety and that is something I appreciate from my peers.

Reflections: Bucca-Near-U Project

First and Foremost, great job to both teams that presented this past week. The ideas from both projects were great!

Bucca-Near-U!

I like the idea of Bucca-Near-U because with much violence occurring rapidly on college campuses; it is imperative to have as many options for safety and emergencies as possible. Recently, there was a shooting on campus at the Ohio State University where my classmate from high school attends. (Yes, she was safe and is ok!) So for incidents such as this, the app will be needed. As far as the location, I think the app should be available to one university, due to certain university policies and rules because not everything is one size fit all. I also admire how this app will help students discretely report and send for help without dialing an actual number for help, especially when their killer is nearby. I also like how this app is user friendly, because most app nowadays are complicated to navigate due to poor programming or lack of information; however this app lays it all as far as the description of when, where, and how to report or call for an emergency. I would like to add a feature as well; maybe insert a voice recorder option, so when the victims calls; she/he can have the call already recorded and saved as a source of evidence. I would also encourage this project to partner with "Audite" because although foreign language may be a barrier; ESL victims are especially at risk when it comes to crime because English is not their native language. Therefore, there should be an option where a victim can either choose from English or Spanish to report and or call for help. Language is universal. Also, this should be accessible to use throughout the year and not just limited to the Fall and Spring semesters when students are generally in school.  Overall, this project was well thought out and can be resourceful for everyone - student, faculty, and staff.

The Joke in Punishment: It's Not the Pun.

Why are people sent to prisons or executed after committing certain crimes? Some people might argue that the reason for these things is to help people learn a lesson. However, in the instance of execution, the guilty people have no chance to right their wrongs or learn from their mistakes. The prisons aren’t that beneficial for this case either since many people who are released from prison often return for committing the same crime again. While in prison, criminals are surrounded by other criminals. Most likely, these people aren't going to give them good advice, or at least what we might consider good advice. They're more likely to learn ways of avoiding getting caught than they are likely to learn ways to be better people.

Time-Out Chairs

If one compares a prison to a time-out chair for a child, the similarities are obvious. As someone who has spent a large portion of life at a daycare center, I can attest for the fact that children behave this way. For the sake of anonymity, I'll refer to the child as Jessica. Jessica stole candy from the other kids' cubbies, but since the teacher witnessed this, Jessica was sent to time-out. She huffed and whines and cried and said she wouldn't do it again, simply stating these things in order to get out of the chair and go play with her friends. However, she was eventually allowed to leave time out since the teachers believed she had learned her lesson. Later on, while the rest of the kids were outside on the playground, Jessica said she had to use the restroom. She went back inside and stole from the cubbies yet again. Clearly, she had not learned her lesson, and while most prisoners understand the lesson they're supposed to learn, they often don't make the decision to stop their criminal activities.

White Bear

If prisons and executions aren't teaching criminals a lesson, what is the point of them? An episode of Black Mirror, called White Bear, seems to suggest that prisons and executions are not for the benefit of the criminal, but rather for the benefit of the victims and other observers. In the episode, a woman who filmed her boyfriend torturing a little girl has her memory wiped and placed into a sort of fake world where everyone watches while others are hunted and tortured. The point of this is supposedly so she can know how it felt to be on the victims side of what she did. However, everyone treats it like a form of entertainment, and one has to wonder if this is really the punishment she deserved. Executions are very similar to this in the real word since they are broadcast for everyone to watch. Is the real world all that different from that episode of Black Mirror then? Are we just imprisoning people and executing them for forms of entertainment or ways to feel better about ourselves? Perhaps we should look for new ways of punishing criminals, or at least some way to actually make criminals change their ways instead of just repeating crimes over and over again.

Not the same as Yesterday, Just for Today

The question of right now is can forgiveness ever be a true result of justice? is it ever possible for someone to be forgiven and have justice be served to them coequally ?

In my opinion I honestly believe that if you are to serve someone justice that you have not forgiven them and if you have forgiven them justice has not been served. Think about this scenario in which someone accidently runs over their neighbors dog and kills it. The person starts crying and pleading that it was an accident and that they are sorry. The neighbors are distraught and disgusted but out of mercy decides to forgive them of their actions and not call the police. Has justice been served? Especially considering the fact that many people are in jail behind the accidental killing of a dog?

Justice is just as hard to define as love is. It has a continuity of connotations that allows for it to be misinterpreted at times. As we struggle to understand exactly what the components of justice are we are still forced to impose laws that we believe helps us to shape our beliefs of what the justice system may seem like.

As we all may have heard forgiveness is just a way of cancelling debt. we believe that whenever we forgive someone they are changing the person that they used to be and becoming someone better. we believe that they are "not the same as yesterday". However, we notice many instances of "cancelled debts" that have happened in the justice system depending on the person and the crime. Is it justice? and if so, when are we to dictate whether or not the crime is forgivable?

In the film, White bear, we see a woman who has committed a crime in which she'll never be forgiven for, but is justice actually being served to her?

 

Her form of punishment is for her to relive the crime she committed over and over again while at the same time having her memory swiped...is this torture imposed entertainment or justice?

It almost passed as a form of justice until someone decided to swipe her memory allowing for her to just be a pawn. Is the purpose of punishment not to allow for the person to become aware of the wrong that they have committed and continue to be conscious of it, thus promoting rehabilitation? I honestly believe in this film the lady has honestly become a subject of revenge and revenge in itself because swiping her memory defeats the purpose of the justice system and conflicts any morals the prosecutors and whatever that society may possess.

Justice served Unjustly

When a crime is committed and the perpetrator is in custody, the victims of the crime and those related to the offended want justice. Justice, in society's mind, is equal punishment or pain brought in return for the action committed by this criminal. The problem with this mindset is the action that was committed, that be theft, murder, rape, etc., must be recommitted in order for this 'justice' to come about. Hypocrisy, at this point, enters into the picture; this very problem is what makes the death penalty in the United States a controversial topic. Is it fair to put a criminal to death for the same action he/she committed? Wouldn't it lead to the paradoxical logic loop that who puts the is criminal to death must also be put to death? What classifies a murder as just? A prime example of acceptable murder is war; what determines that to be just or unjust?

I believe the main factor into determining a criminal action (such as murder) just, would be society's viewpoint or take on the action. Whichever side the social norms follow with is deemed the just side. If one were to kill someone out of self defense or because of orders, which would be an attack victim and soldiers or executioners, society strips the responsibility away from the committer; yet if one was to kill for self gain or any other selfish reason, society would frown upon it. This double standard of justice can be found in the White Bear video. Victoria's crimes were awful without a doubt, but that does not give leeway for the same actions to be committed upon her, even if she deserves it (which the Victoria 'post mind wipe' does not). No matter if you argue that she was tricked (not forced by gunpoint) by her husband, Ian, into doing it or if she planned it herself, society will not view either case too kindly. Yet, the same crime of torture and pain is committed repeatedly on this show, with it being acceptable by all members of society, and thus eliminating the guilt of the crime from those responsible. Even though this Victoria with no memory of the crime deserves none of this torment (since she cannot actually learn or feel guilt from this event since no reference memories are found), everyone carries along with it. This punishment does not benefit her in any way, with nothing learned in the end; the punishment benefits those who enact it. Two wrongs do not equal a right, that is unless, you have a million people behind you backing you up.

Is Punishment the New Entertainment?

Recently, I have watched an episode from The Black Mirror TV series called White Bear, which is about a woman by the name of Victoria Skillane waking up in a neighborhood, having no memory of who she is and why she is there, but discovers that there are hunters out there trying to kill her. Due to her memory loss, she does not realize that she is actually being punished for assisting her fiance, Iain Rannoch, to abduct and kill a little girl by the name of Jemima. Judging by the actions committed in this episode, I believe that Skillane’s punishment was more of an entertainment proposition rather than a cruel punishment. Everything that happened was a complete setup; everything was not real. The people of the neighborhood that were posing as hypnotized hosts to film and watch Skillane suffer were faking the whole time. Even the hunters were not real. They were part of an organization called the White Bear Justice Society whom set up the punishment for Skillane. At the end of the punishment where Skillane is reminded of her past, her memory is then erased so that the punishment can repeat the next day.

The punishment to me was rare and unusual. Normally, if someone were to commit a crime, they would be sentenced to jail, prison, community service, death, etc., but to have your memory erased and experience the same moment over and over again just to have your memory erased at the end is definitely strange. I really do not see how that serves justice. It pretty much reminded me of WorldStar, a video blog that allows us to film and expose whatever is going on in the world today. Nowadays, you see people with their smart phone devices out always trying to record a moment in life even at the wrong time. In resemblance to the people who just had their phones out to film instead of helping Skillane escape from the hunters is a prime example of the WorldStar phenomenon; we are so amused by seeing others in pain that we get a sense of urgency to make it into a propaganda of entertainment instead of being a good Samaritan. Even though the whole scene was fake, it had me questioning ourselves as to why we think it is okay to do that when we would not want that to happen to us.

Memory does play an important role in our lives, but it can also lead to drastic measures when not used correctly. It is not our fault for that we use a small percentage of our brain to carry out our everyday routine. When Skillmane was in trial for her crime, she told the judge that she was “under her fiance’s spell” when they wrapped the girl in a sleeping blanket and burned her alive, but was she really? Was she just using her memory of what happened to lie to herself in order to make her feel less guilty of her actions? Either way, memory is such an overestimated skill. We tend to believe that our memory helps us become self aware of our surroundings, but can we truly trust our memories?

Here is a TED talk about how reliable our memory can be:

 Elizabeth Loftus: How reliable is your memory?

Just[ice] a Laugh

In this week’s episode of Black Mirror, White Bear, I cannot help but be frustrated and confused as to why I have not fully processed what I watched. What I mean by that is, after watching it, I was unsure whether or not I would call what the episode portrays as “justice.” According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, justice is defined as a “just behavior or treatment.” Although the main character, Victoria, is a witness to the death of the little girl in the video, people do not stand with her. Instead, they give justice to what happened to the little girl by giving Victoria the same treatment. With the treatment, they wipe her memory and make her feel helpless while someone chases and hunts her down to kill her. However, she doesn’t get killed. She lives. She lives and she forgets. The treatment she has is all an act and entertainment for a crowd, and everyone is in on the act except Victoria. 

For me, I understand and see why the treatment Victoria receives is considered justice, but I still have an uneasy feeling when it comes to knowing her memory is wiped and people are watching it for entertainment. In addition to this, she has to constantly repeat what the little girl went through. When reaching the end of the episode, I did not feel it was justice. In the beginning, I felt sorry for her, but when the episode revealed what she did, I did not feel much sorrow until they wiped her memory again. Also, when she said, “Just kill me now,” it made me feel for her. When realizing she goes through this every day, it felt like torture rather than justice. She is not only tortured through the memory wiping, but there are onlookers and bystanders who feed into her torture by not helping her. Instead, they are there filming her, laughing at her, or standing there doing nothing for help. Her treatment is no longer a fight for justice, but it has been translated into punishment. I could not imagine having to relive a mistake I did every single day, only to forget it before the end of the day. I could not begin to imagine people who choose not to help me when I need it. What she goes through is torture, and she is helpless to it. Whether or not one believes she deserves it or not, she is still a human being capable of emotions—even if she did make a mistake—I believe she does not need to be put through the torture and reliving her mistake every day and forgetting what she did. The constant torture every day does not need to benefit and please a crowd if they’re only getting a laugh out of it. Here are some pictures I wanted to share that are similar to how the onlookers are bystanders to Victoria's pain.

How many times have you seen that someone committed a crime and thought "they deserve the same thing"? Whether it was Casey Anthony or Brock Turner or anyone in between, we've all heard people have extremely harsh reactions to those who commit heinous crimes. However, this is simply a misconstrued idea of fairness. "Fair" is defined as "in accordance with the rules or standards" and the cruel and unusual punishment we witnessed in White Bear is definitely not in accordance with the rules or standards set in the United States, or in Europe. "[A]rticle 3 of the European convention on human rights, now part of our law by virtue of the Human Rights Act. . . states: 'No one shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.'" In our anger and disgust with criminals, it's easy to let ourselves think that they should get what they gave out, but letting our minds stoop to their level doesn't make us better people. Thinking badly of others, even if they are bad people, does nothing to strengthen our character; it only allows for negativity and hate to come into our lives. Watching White Bear, I couldn't help but think that if we all know that what Victoria Skillane did was wrong, why would anyone think it's okay to do it back to her? Just because Victoria may be a terrible person and just because she has done absolutely terrible things, it doesn't mean that she should undergo the torture and confusion and hurt that Jemima underwent. Regardless of who it was happening to, it all seemed to be wrong. 

In addition to this kind of punishment being unfair because of the laws against it, we have to decide if this kind of punishment is unfair because of the circumstances surrounding Victoria Skillane's involvement with the kidnapping and murder of young Jemima. Toward the end of the episode, while Victoria is being told who she is and what is happening, Baxter mentions that Victoria claimed to have been "under the spell" of her fiance, Iain Rannoch. Because we, as viewers, are unsure of the nature of relationship between Iain and Victoria, we can't say that this is untrue. It is impossible for us to say that Victoria was lying about this. Iain could have been abusive toward Victoria, Victoria could have been mentally unstable, Iain could have convinced her that they were doing something good, Iain could have been threatening her or someone she loved if she didn't comply; there are plenty of possibilities for why she said she was "under his spell" and what that meant as far as her going along with what he was doing. If this is the case, and she was coerced into this life of crime with Iain Rannoch, then it is hard to hold her accountable for the crimes. It is difficult for me to figure out where I stand on the situation we saw in White Bear because I don't feel like I know all of the facts of Victoria's life, her relationship with Iain, or the way the justice system worked in this episode.

Life Offline vs. Online

     Ash and Martha are a young couple living during a time of high technological advancement. Ash constantly uses his cellphone while Martha does not. Ash dies in a vehicle accident, leaving Martha heartbroken. Sarah, Martha's friend tells her of a new technological feature that creates a virtual version of the deceased, based on their online history. Martha refuses to engage in this feature, but after much self-damage, feelings of emptiness, and the news of her pregnancy, Martha communicates with the virtual Ash. Communications with the new Ash start with emails, then phone conversations, which then leads to a synthetic copy of Ash's body moving into the home with Martha. Martha finds happiness through this feature, but as Ash becomes more physically real, Martha becomes increasingly uncomfortable.


     Martha's discomfort with the synthetic body of Ash directly correlates with the Uncanny Valley. The emails and phone conversations directly fulfill Martha's feelings of emptiness by giving her a platform to communicate her pregnancy with her deceased husband. However, when the new Ash upgrades to a physical synthetic copy of the deceased Ash, there is a noticeable dip in Martha's level of comfort using this technological feature. Martha received direct fulfillment from the emails and phone calls with the new Ash, but as she begins to engage with the synthetic copy of Ash, she becomes increasingly demanding of him, that he be more like the original Ash. Despite impressive adaptation in mirroring the personality of the old Ash, the new Ash fails to fully represent the old Ash, as it contains only the online life of Ash rather than his human to human social interaction offline. The new Ash tries to become a perfect version of the old Ash using his online history, but in reality, the old Ash was never actually a perfect version of himself and had multiple imperfections. These imperfections are what the new Ash fails to provide to Martha as the old Ash rarely posted his imperfections online and as a result, the new Ash has no access to them.


     This episode exemplifies the notion that our online profiles, despite the similarities, do not actually showcase the genuine personalities that we all have offline. Social media provides a platform for everyone to show off their best photos, statements, etc., but do not give an accurate representation of who we are behind the screen. Even with texting, snapchatting, and emailing, people have plenty of time to develop a witty or intelligent statement or response rather than having to think on the spot quickly during a human to human conversation. We have separate lives both online and offline and there are many people who are invested in their online profiles rather than their offline ones. A good assertion of someone cannot be made based on their online profiles as these profiles are well refined and lack the imperfections that make us who we are.

What Makes Us Human? What Separates Us From the Other?

Throughout history many people have attempted to define what it is that makes us human in a variety of ways. From defining the moment someone becomes human to deciding that only people with a certain skin type can be human or at least a proper human. For some reason we are obsessed with separating ourselves from the other or at least what we perceive as the other. However this separation only comes at a certain point. This person may have most of the same features as us, but if the nose is to wide or they don't show what we feel is the proper emotion they are suddenly the other. Perhaps that is why we hate the idea of artificial intelligence and humanoid robots, but only at a certain point. We enjoy the idea of them the thought of something that came for the most part replicate a human, but only half way. If they begin to show traits that are too human say emotion we are then repulsed by them. We as humans are funny that way we enjoy things that strive to be like us, but hate them we when they become like us. In the first episode of the second season of Netflix's Black Mirror Martha portrayed by Hayley Atwell loses her husband Ash portrayed by Domhnall Gleeson in an accident that was most likely due to his excessive cell phone usage as he was described as a "heavy user" she becomes filled with and during that time she sent to a service that using all of his social media posts mimics Ash bringing him back to live even, but as time goes on the line between Ash the man and Ash the other becomes blurred. Soon our protagonist has an android of Ash that she activated in her bathroom. This thing has the same looks as Ash, the same type of humor, but he's missing something. Martha remarks that he looks like Ash, but only on his good days and there is even a point where he grows a mole of Ash's onto himself to make her happy. However the moment that shows what exactly is missing from Ash is on the cliff side when Martha tells him to jump. And when he starts to obey she berates him telling him that her Ash would beg her to stop that he would cry and he does and that is her breaking point as she lets out a heart shattering scream and then the screen cuts to black. Martha is older with a child and Ash is standing at the attic. Her putting him away connects to the point that we only enjoy technology to a certain extent. Martha enjoyed Ash until he became too human on the cliff side when he showed emotion even though it was what she asked for. In that moment the line became too blurred what separated Ash from the Other was the lack of flaws in my opinion though he was the better lover and more attractive he was missing the flaws that made her love human Ash. I think flaws are integral to being human. What are we really without our flaws? Our flaws are what separates us from the other.

Don't Look Right Back

It is tragic when someone loses a loved one. They might wish that they could see that person just one last time or hear their voice. In their memories, people keep their loved ones alive. However, even that isn't enough for some people who are grieving. Sometimes people wish they could have their loved ones alive yet again and imagine scenarios where they would be brought back.

Orpheus and Eurydice

Over the centuries, there have been countless tales of the dead being brought back to life due to someone's inability to let someone they loved go. These stories range from Orpheus travelling to the underworld to bring back Eurydice to tales of magic and necromancy. Besides the basic idea of bringing people back from the idea, these stories tend to have one basic concept that attempting to fight death inevitably ends in failure. These stories seem to remind people that it is necessary for the dead to stay dead, and they further the taboo for any attempts at keeping people alive longer than they should be alive. 

Frankenstein's Monster

Life itself is a sort of taboo when it is in the form of anything unfamiliar. Take Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for instance. Frankenstein's monster is seen by everyone as a mistake, and although the monster does look gigantic and terrifying, the story also seemed to imply there was something wrong with creating life. Humanity seems to find the idea of creating life wrong, which would also be why bringing the dead to life is seen as something so terrible. Likely the reason that this concept is so terrible is probably due to religion. People who believe in some kind of god or deity often believe it is only the right of their god or gods to give or take life. Doing anything else would be blasphemous. Necromancers and witches are often associated with the devil after all. 

However, can anyone really blame those who wish to bring back the people they love? If so many people want something so similar, why is it so wrong for them to want such a thing? Maybe people don't want to get their hopes up that something like that could happen. However, with advances in technology, keeping people alive is practically already happening and has been happening for a while now. 

Ash and Martha - Be Right Back, Black Mirror

If people are not afraid to keep each other alive through various medical technologies, what about when people try to keep someone alive in the same way they hold onto memories of loved ones? People leave digital records all the time after all. Take Frankenstein's monster and input all of the data of someone who had once been alive, all the messages, videos, e-mails, and any recorded communication. Would you end up with a human being? In an episode of Black Mirror, called Be Right Back, Martha loses her husband, Ash, and decides to sign up for a messaging system that uses all of Ash's past messages in order to determine how he would respond to what she said. Initially, she finds this idea horrible since it all seemed like something to mess with her. It wasn't real after all. However, after awhile, she grew attached to messaging this automated system. It was familiar to her, and that's why she liked it. She sought to make it more familiar and upgraded that system with recordings of Ash's voice, so she could then talk to him on the phone. At this point, she didn't seem to think about the fact that it wasn't really Ash that she was talking to. She acted like he was really on the other end of the line, talking to her, even becoming terrified that she lost him again when she dropped her phone. Considering how much she enjoyed talking to him like this, she upgraded the system again, giving it an actual form.

After this upgrade, there was a noticeable change in her reaction towards this robot. He looked like and talked like Ash, but since this was so familiar to her, she seemed to look for the differences between the Ash she knew and the one presented to her now as a robot. Every time she noticed a difference, it reminded her that this wasn't actually Ash, and in a way it was like she was being tricked. In a way, this is how most people respond to something that seems too realistic or familiar but is presented in an unfamiliar way.  There are robots now after all, and many people find them unsettling or creepy. When they look at robots like the Geminoid, they start looking for the subtle differences between the robots and real people. It's as if they're thinking, "You can't trick me. I know what you really are." That's why they find it so unsettling. 

It could also explain why some people don't find realistic and familiar things unsettling. They don't feel like they're being tricked. They either know what something actually is and don't feel like they're being fooled or believe it to be something else entirely and actually are fooled. For example, when Martha talked to "Ash" on the phone, it seemed like she started to believe it was actually him. In those moments, she was not disturbed and loved communicating with the system of algorithms. Only once he had form and she knew she wasn't talking to the real Ash did she start feeling like she was being fooled. It was then that she couldn't seem to stand being around him for long periods of time. 

People will likely protest the idea of keeping people alive with the kind of technology used in Be Right Back, but when it comes down to it, is that just because people have always been told that it's wrong? Is it because they don't want to be fooled when they know the dead are actually still dead? If we were presented with a way to keep people alive, should we really turn it down?

The Uncanny Valley Perscpetive

"Uncanny Valley" is a legit graph that shows human reactions and how unreasonable they can be to things that don't understand. The concept of a humanoid drone looking to real to the point of almost undistinguishable of a human being. The humanoid drone supposedly installs fear into a human for he looks human but is not really human. But yet, we are fascinated with the drones and like thinking they are awesome. And yet again, we change are mind and begin to fear it when we find out that its getting to real for comfort. “there’s plenty about life that might best be ignored yet can’t be.”― Gregory Miller, The Uncanny Valley: Tales from a Lost Town

My understanding of this quote is that humans are to curious to let anything that can be discovered not be discovered. It ties into the topic simply because humans like to test there abilities and if the can create a human wouldn't that be such an amazing accomplishment. Who wouldn't want to do it. But, no matter how much the human mind involve it is still something very simple to understand. The moment there is something they don't understand they become afraid of it. Placing judgment on it ,but its there creation it didn't ask to be created. I feel the human is trying to play god, yet he is not ready to be god. For, he loves all his creations no matter what a human does not think that way; we think in terms of our own interests, self-gratification, being acknowledge by others, etc.... not in terms of how others feel. I find it extremely supercilious if you love it up to a point then stop at that point. If your going to keep going you better continue loving it not just the creator but everybody. “A person who suffers from his own bad habits is almost never likely to blame himself. Everyone else becomes a target. And the folks who are different become the biggest target. Travis”
― Gregory Miller, The Uncanny Valley: Tales from a Lost Town From this point I would say that the human is the one who blames. From the show presented last Friday the woman is the one that suffers from here own bad habits. And the fact that she blames the humanoid for it is just deplorable. She let her own inability to move on get in the way and cause more pain not only for her ,but also, the humanoid drone.

From my understanding the human should live with the inventions he create and not pass judgment upon it. There shouldn't be a slope decline in the Uncanny Valley theory.