"And while your brain might be great at controlling machines, how great are you at controlling your brain? What if, 10 years in the future, you're watching a cartoon on your futuristic 3D computer television, and the cartoon's got a rabbit in it, and the rabbit's slightly coquettish and flirty, and the knowing way it flicks that cotton tail as it hops makes you think about sex momentarily, and before you know it, your brain's retrieved some disgraceful bestial rabbit porn from the very worst corners of the Ultranet, and is relaying it on the display in lurid 96-inch holographic guttervision just as your wife and kid come back from the shops? And then, drunk on self-destructive power, your computer-mind takes a four-second video-snapshot of your own child's horrified gasping face and mischievously scribbles a load of penises and swastikas all over it, and uploads this vandalised looping portrait to your 3D holographic Facebook page accompanied by a headline screaming WITNESS MY NADIR – JUDGE ME! JUDGE ME! JUDGE ME ONE AND ALL!
Let's face it, if you're honest, there's a whole world of shit routinely fizzing and popping around in your head that you wouldn't want a computer to unquestioningly act on. Remember: when they triumphantly unveil an iPhone that lets you dial your sweetheart simply by thinking about their face, don't be fooled into thinking it's wonderful. It's a slippery slope. Resist the mind probe. Thicken your skull. Staple a doormat around it if necessary. Keep those thoughts trapped inside where they belong. Because if the imp of the mind ever sidesteps the body and gets its hand directly on the steering wheel, humankind can look forward to six months of unpredictable chaos, then doomsday."
By
Charlie Brooker
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