Week 3 Tech Journal: Setting and Atmosphere
The Lowtek’s Killing Floor is used in William Gibson’s Johnny Mnemonic to emphasize the root of human nature and instinct — which is essentially to kill or be killed. This inhumanity is often forgotten about in modern society due to our advancement as a civilization, however it cannot be forgotten that — before modernization and governmental law — the concept of survival of the fittest reigned supreme.
A near past example of how technology has been used to amplify inhumanity was the killing of George Floyd — specifically how Mr. Derek Chauvin was proven guilty through the incriminating videos captured by bystanders cell phones during his murder. With our modern age of technology, almost everyone has access to recording of sound and visuals with the use of their cell phones cameras and microphone. Whilst Mr. Floyd was being suffocated under the foot of police brutality, many active bystanders pulled out their cell phones and recorded the incident for proof and validation of what was truly happening. Although no one physically stepped in to stop Mr. Chauvin, the proof of him knowingly killing Mr. Floyd was so clear because of our use of technology that it alone was enough to put the killer behind bars. Before modern time, a lot of witnesses to crimes were merely a ‘he said versus she said’ where it is one person’s word against another. This can be inaccurate as it introduces several biases — where someone’s interpretation of an event can be different than someone else’s. These inconsistencies in someone’s story — especially depending on how quickly they were interrogated after the incident — is why solid evidence was hard to come by in my different situations. However, with the Floyd murder, our societies use of technology created viable, non-biased proof of what occurred on that day. Also, with our abundant use of the internet and social media, the evidence of this police brutality circulated the entirety of the internet and news stations as the video got leaked — further incriminating Mr. Chauvin. It is safe to say that if no video recordings were available of the events on the day of Mr. Floyd’s murder, the outcome of Mr. Chauvin being sentenced to twenty-two years in prison could have gone totally differently.
