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Quiz about Black Mirror Technologies
Quiz about Black Mirror Technologies

"Black Mirror" Technologies Trivia Quiz


Playfully mocked with the phrase "what if phones but too much", "Black Mirror" is known for its use of technology to show the weaknesses of humans and tell human stories. Can you name the episode from a novel technology introduced in it?

A matching quiz by AdamM7. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Author
AdamM7
Time
3 mins
Type
Match Quiz
Quiz #
413,660
Updated
Sep 07 23
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
72
Last 3 plays: Guest 35 (10/10), Guest 79 (10/10), Guest 212 (10/10).
(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.
Interesting info contains spoilers for all of series 1 to 6.
QuestionsChoices
1. An implant for soldiers that presents stigmatised races as inhuman monsters  
  Be Right Back
2. An implant for children that lets parents monitor vision, hearing and health information  
  Nosedive
3. A simulated reality called a "cookie" that can play out millennia in a matter of minutes  
  Joan Is Awful
4. Mechanical "dog" creatures that attack humans  
  Arkangel
5. A "grain" that lets you record and play back memories  
  Metalhead
6. An artificial human that mimics the behavior of a dead loved one  
  White Christmas
7. An app on which you can rate every human interaction from one to five stars  
  The Entire History of You
8. A medical device that lets you feel someone else's pleasure and pain  
  Black Museum
9. A television show about you generated in real-time  
  Men Against Fire
10. Stationary bikes that generate currency  
  Fifteen Million Merits





Select each answer

1. An implant for soldiers that presents stigmatised races as inhuman monsters
2. An implant for children that lets parents monitor vision, hearing and health information
3. A simulated reality called a "cookie" that can play out millennia in a matter of minutes
4. Mechanical "dog" creatures that attack humans
5. A "grain" that lets you record and play back memories
6. An artificial human that mimics the behavior of a dead loved one
7. An app on which you can rate every human interaction from one to five stars
8. A medical device that lets you feel someone else's pleasure and pain
9. A television show about you generated in real-time
10. Stationary bikes that generate currency

Most Recent Scores
Sep 22 2024 : Guest 35: 10/10
Sep 19 2024 : Guest 79: 10/10
Sep 08 2024 : Guest 212: 10/10

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. An implant for soldiers that presents stigmatised races as inhuman monsters

Answer: Men Against Fire

Based on the book of the same name, "Men Against Fire" shows warfare in Eastern Europe in which the protagonist's government is carrying out ethnic cleansing. However, soldiers are given an implant that presents this 'inferior' race as subhuman 'roaches'. The episode makes you question the role of your government in conflict and what you are told about other cultures, peoples, and races.

Most people think they would have stood up to the Nazis, maybe by housing refugees if they lived in France or refusing to serve in the army if they were German. The reality is that most people are wrong. They would have cooperated with or even joined the Nazis because many Germans did and many French did not risk their lives to save refugees.

The poet Martin Niemöller bravely dealt with this head-on, in his confession: "First they came for the communists. And I did not speak out. Because I was not a communist." And so forth. Martin Niemöller initially supported the Nazis before risking his life to oppose them. We could all do with asking ourselves earnestly and openly: am I on the right side of history?
2. An implant for children that lets parents monitor vision, hearing and health information

Answer: Arkangel

Parents face difficult choices every day, whatever the age of their child. When should you let them make a mistake, and when should you stop them? You learn to be human through autonomy, through choices, and Sara has much of this taken away from her by Marie.

Conversely, a person can be scarred for life by a traumatic childhood incident. They can go down the wrong path very early in life - as we see from Trick - when they lack the ability to make an informed choice. And the human brain is so easily shaped in childhood, so your opportunities in life depend on whether you're shaped as a virtuoso, a thrill-seeker, or someone with high anxiety.

Ultimately, Marie does not manage to save her daughter from harm and prevents open communication between the pair of them through helicopter parenting. But where and why does she go wrong?
3. A simulated reality called a "cookie" that can play out millennia in a matter of minutes

Answer: White Christmas

The idea of simulated realities recurs in "Black Mirror", including in "Playtest", "San Junipero", "USS Callister", "Hang the DJ", "Striking Vipers" and "Joan Is Awful". It was introduced in the last episode made for Channel 4, the 2014 special "White Christmas".

Across its three stories, "White Christmas" shows the following: predatory male behavior in a one-night stand with a vulnerable woman, women's bodily autonomy, abusive relationships, and a lack of closure after a break-up ("ghosting").

Its ending - paralleling that of the three-parter "Black Museum" - poses the question: what is 'justice'? Is it retribution and infliction of pain? Exiling somebody from society with no way for them to make amends? Or could it look any different?
4. Mechanical "dog" creatures that attack humans

Answer: Metalhead

Based quite directly on Boston Dynamics' robots which use dog-based names, the creature in "Metalhead" chases our main character Maxine until its eventual victory. In doing so, it showcases its use of laser vision (Lidar), logical processing, ability to adapt to sustaining damage, and use of trackers.

The episode shows the classic 'AI gone rogue' idea that is iconic within science fiction. The lack of explanation for the dogs or the off-screen apocalypse lets readers craft their own: are dogs controlled by humans? What was their initial purpose?

With the ending, that reveals Maxine knowingly risked (and lost) her life for a teddy bear, a new theme is raised: what makes life worth living?
5. A "grain" that lets you record and play back memories

Answer: The Entire History of You

A weaker memory technology is seen in "Crocodile", but in "The Entire History of You" you can record with perfect accuracy your audiovisual senses and replay them for yourself (immersively) or for others.

The underlying theme of this episode is trust and adultery. But through the details of the world we glimpse at other questions. Liam talks about a legal case involving parental rights, goes through an airport, and speaks to Hallam about her grain being stolen in an assault. Does airport security violate human dignity and privacy? Should a child be able to hold their parent legally accountable for negligence (and when/how)? How can you assert control over your data? When a technology that can violate your privacy is ubiquitous, does an individual still have the right to opt-out?
6. An artificial human that mimics the behavior of a dead loved one

Answer: Be Right Back

Nine years before ChatGPT's release, "Be Right Back" imagines a world in which a woman uses a chatbot to process grief at the death of her boyfriend. It was inspired by creator Charlie Brooker looking at a dead friend's phone number in his contact list, and the emotions of deciding whether to delete it or keep it.

The episode asks: what are healthy ways to process grief? How can you remember a loved one while still being open to moving on? Before you judge Martha too quickly for her bad decisions, think about how suddenly her life plan changed. One day she was moving to the countryside with her boyfriend. The next she was left alone to mother his child.
7. An app on which you can rate every human interaction from one to five stars

Answer: Nosedive

It is easy, particularly the older you are, to treat the characters of "Nosedive" with contempt for their obsession with phones. But consider their social functions: to curate a public image of yourself that reflects the best parts of your life, and to improve your social capital.

These concepts existed long before Instagram. The saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know" has long been used in business for a reason. "Nosedive" segregates people by rating - they have different housing, different modes of transport, and different social occasions available to them. But is this so far removed from the role that money plays in capitalism?
8. A medical device that lets you feel someone else's pleasure and pain

Answer: Black Museum

This story, within the larger story of the episode, is called "Pain Addict" and was published by Penn Jillette in 1988. Dr. Peter Dawson starts with his empathic hairnet as an expert at diagnosing patients' injuries and saving lives that could not be saved. Many patients cannot communicate where and how something hurts, including babies, the comatose, and some disabled people.

A gruesome, sinister twist sees the doctor's pain and pleasure senses swapped, so empathy turns to masochism. The fetishism of near-death experiences or thrills from risk-taking are not unique to this story, which might make thrill-seekers question: when should you take a step back and make sure that your passions cannot lead you and others into genuine danger?
9. A television show about you generated in real-time

Answer: Joan Is Awful

Written before the 2023 writers' and actors' strikes over streaming service residuals and the use of automation to make jobs redundant, "Joan Is Awful" is a timely comedy that sees its protagonist's day play before her on the television screen, for millions to watch. Generated entirely by computer, the TV Joan is a caricature of the real Joan that makes her look awful.

Fears that automation will make workers redundant date back at least to the Luddites, 19th-century English citizens who smashed the new machinery of the Industrial Revolution. But is life not better than it was then for our advances in automation? Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but no success has been found in trying to turn back the clock and return to an earlier society.

Our best bet may be to accept the new technology but make sure that it is put to good use. What are the potential benefits of ChatGPT if human need and not profit is the driving force? How can we redesign our society so that - unlike the automation of the past 150 years (since the eight-hour day's introduction) - new technology can reduce the working week, reduce domestic labor, and increase human happiness?
10. Stationary bikes that generate currency

Answer: Fifteen Million Merits

The new world of "Fifteen Million Merits" sees most people pedaling bikes to generate 'merits', which they need for food, toothpaste, and anything else you'd need currency for - but with a heavy emphasis on digital assets, like a hat for your avatar.

Everything from the sexualization of women (Abi's fate) to the deliberate tampering of one's thoughts (you can buy something that rewires your brain to find apples tastier) is on show in this tremendous episode.

But the heart-breaking ending tells us something about consumerism and about capitalism's ability to incorporate dissent. Bing blasts talent show judges with both barrels about the pointless, inhuman conditions of most people - the cyclists - as a small number of people are rich and famous. Rather than letting him kill himself, the judges give him a TV program. Whether it's Che Guevara T-shirts for sale, the revolving door between politicians and the journalism industry that 'holds politicians to account', or the life of Charlie Brooker himself, this episode can make us question: how can we meaningfully change the system rather than becoming part of it?
Source: Author AdamM7

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
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