Before Black Mirror (in fiction) or the Chinese Government (in reality) came up with a Social Credit System, this innovative idea had already been dreamed up in a rather obscure movie by Hal Hartley, titled „the Girl from Monday“. In his version of the somewhat infantile idea of "Life as a permanent Wii Game", sexually active people are considered to be the most active consumers, so people will record each of their sexual encounters as an economic transaction. This will increase their „desirability rating“, their value as sexual commodities, and therefore also their credit rating. Because of its direct relation to one's credit rating and buying power, insurance policies covering a person's sexual desirability are available. For a Social Credit System to run smoothly, the digital habitat must be total. As the movie shows, human beings somehow like to keep score, and the „total recall“- property of the digital realm facilitates that. The one central feature of the Digital Age is precisely that one: Outsourcing memory in the most effective way. The problem with that? Well, first of all, the question is: Who decides what kind of behavior is to be rewarded? Spending or Saving? Consumption or Austerity? Recycling or waste reduction? Driving too fast or too slow? Having Kids or not having kids? The main argument is, of course, that whoever behaves badly, will then be punished by the credit system, and that, in turn, will force him into a better behavior pattern. The problem here is, since the system has no form of "ethical judgement", it cannot know why you did something - Out of self-defense or out of greed or pure malice? The score system will never be able to know that. Let's get back to Hal Hartley's movie: The sexual "activity" score can be attained out of desire or out of forced offenses. When it comes to human behavior, it would be very wrong to assume anything "by default". Last but not least, people sometimes deserve a second chance, or even a third one. When everyone is doomed to walk around with his track record projected onto his forehead, getting that second chance might become impossible.
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AuthorThomas Behrens Visual Communication is not only taking part in the digital transformation - actively and passively - he will also reflect on it. Hence the blog. Archives
January 2021
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