Editing 2072: Evaluating Tech Things

{{comic
| number    = 2072
| date      = November 14, 2018
| title     = Evaluating Tech Things
| image     = evaluating_tech_things.png
| titletext = Also known as the Black Mirror-Mythbusters scale.
}}

==Explanation==

The rapid pace of technological advancement frequent raises the possibility of doing things that were either impossible, or at least impractical, for all of human history.  In many cases, these new possibilities are exciting and fun, but at least some of them present major concerns about how they'll impact society.  Things like {{w|atomic fission}}, the {{w|Internet}}, {{w|CRISPR}} technology, are amazing things we have learned how to do, but they also have the potential, in some cases already realized, of massively affecting human life (e.g. nuclear annihilation, instant wide-scale communication, elective genetic engineering), both for the better and for the worse.

Here [[Cueball]], upon hearing of a cool idea he hadn't thought of before, mentally measures it on a scale to decide if he can be excited about it, or should be worried about how it might affect humanity. This process is represented by an analog meter with one extreme labeled "This raises big questions about technology and society", and the other simply labeled "Haha Cool!". After weighing it out, he decides it's just plain cool and it will not adversely affect humanity at all. In the comic, it appears this mental decision took awhile, judging by the multiple panels showing him thinking, ambivalently rubbing his chin as the dial oscillates left and right, before he gives his response.

The title text refers to this mental weighing also being known as the ''Black Mirror''–''Mythbusters'' scale. 
'' {{w|Black Mirror}}'' is a British anthology series, mostly falling into the genre of near-future science fiction. Most episodes with the impacts of current and/or potential technology on society, usually focused on the negative and even destructive effects that technological change can have. 

''{{w|Mythbusters}}'' was a long-running science education/entertainment program in which the hosts explore myths, urban legends, and other various claims and concepts by designing and building experiments to test them. The show was famous for advancing the notion of experimentation to a broad audience, as well as for the elaborate and often exciting experiments they conducted (including a large number of dramatic explosions). 

[[Randall]] appears to use ''Black Mirror'' as an emblem of the frightening and dangerous aspects of science and technology, and ''Mythbusters'' as benchmark for having fun with science by using it to do cool things. 

Worrying about the effect that technology has on our lives is a theme that has been explored before, in [[1215: Insight]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball talking]
:Megan: Sooner or later, someone is going to fly a drone into a tornado and post the footage to YouTube.

:[Zoom in on Cueball imagining a semicircular dial with a moving pointer currently fixed vertically in the mid value. The left-most value indicating his opinion to be "This raises big questions about technology and society" and the right-most being "Haha, cool!"]

:[Panel with just Cueball and the imaginary dial above his head, the pointer having shifted a small amout to the right]

:[Same panel with Cueball, his right hand pensively on his chin, the pointer having shifted an equally small amount to the left of the mid value]

:[Panel with Cuball, Megan and the imaginary dial above, the pointer now all the way to the right]
:Cueball: Haha, cool!

{{comic discussion}}

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