I watched the first episode of “Black Mirror” in my dorm, to decide if I wanted attend the Flora’s Film event. Having seen it, I decided that while I liked the series, it was not something I wanted to watch with a group of people. But then, I wasn’t able to make it to the farmer’s market on Saturday.

In “The Entire History of You”, most people have a device which records everything they see and do. These memories can then be played back, either privately by their “owners” or on screens for other people to see. The main character of the episode, Liam, discovers that his wife was unfaithful to him with the aid of “inorganic” memories. At the end of the episode, he chooses to remove his memory device.

I was not wrong about the film being awkward to watch with a group. But the group setting was also appropriate, given that “The Entire History of You” is about a world in which our intimate experiences – memories – are shared with others.

Personally, I would consider living in a world in which my memories were potentially accessible to others a nightmare. My concern would not be only for my memories, which I would control, but for other people’s memories of me, which they would be able to share freely and without my knowledge. If such a device existed as exists in “The Entire History of You”, then it would be impossible to have ownership over yourself, your image, and how you are perceived.

An interesting point was made in the discussion after the film. Photography, video, and social media sharing function very much like the memory sharing in the Black Mirror episode. That we engage in these activities willingly suggests that we are not bothered by the loss of privacy they entail, and possibly would not be bothered by the much greater loss of privacy from shareable memory. But I think there are important distinctions between the world presented in Black Mirror and our current world. For one, our social media presences generally represents a conscious effort to present ourselves in the best possible light – we chose who we want to be online. In contrast, shareable memory might be more “truthful” and unfiltered. Yet, there is also a scene in “The Entire History of You” in which Liam’s wife edits her own memory. Thus it is possible that, even in a world where we were able to show people our “truthful” memories, we would still be able to manage our identities.

“The Entire History of You” while awkward, was ultimately entertaining. I liked the premise of “Black Mirror,” revealing the dark sides of technology we generally view as beneficial. I will likely watch the remainder of the series. But not with other people.