6 ms·

Suddenly I remember this movie from the 90s where people drugged themself with some kind of minidisc. “Strange Days”, maybe? Anyhow, I always found the plot wei

Suddenly I remember this movie from the 90s where people drugged themself with some kind of minidisc. “Strange Days”, maybe? Anyhow, I always found the plot weird, but maybe they actually were onto something…

dragonwriter 2y ago
The minidiscs in that case where full-sensory VR recordings of people’s experiences.
genezeta 2y ago
The discs had -in the movie- the memories of another person, and you would experience that memory and sensations as if you were living it. So, e.g. someone would record themselves doing something risky and you would get the adrenaline rush from watching it. So... Maybe in some way one could argue that social media gives some sort of connection were you get some feelings from what others are doing/showing. I mean, technologically it's quite a leap, but in a conceptual way... it's still a bit of a leap but maybe not that big.
- twiceaday 2y ago
  Sounds like Brain Dances (BDs) from Cyberpunk 2077.
  - nyc_data_geek1 2y ago
    Yes, which originally came from Cyberpunk, the first sourcebook for which was released in 1988, with Cyberpunk 2020 releasing in 1990 complete with the idea for pre-recorded replayable memories/full sensory experience, ie:Braindance. Strange Days was released in 1995. Maximum Mike was, and is, a prophet right alongside Gibson. edit: Although almost certainly this wasn't the first place people imagined being able to record and playback memories.
    - saxonww 2y ago
      Made me think of Total Recall, which was adapted from "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," looks like from 1966.
    - Fluorescence 2y ago
      Wiki tells me there was a Cyberpunk 2013 released in 1988. Feels like a millennial cult that keeps missing it's big day... Cyberpunk 2013 - join us! Jack in choom Cyberpunk 2020 - oops sorry, had to reschedule Cyberpunk 2077 - crazy story, anyway we've got a new date Cyberpunk ???? - this time, we promise!
  - ahartmetz 2y ago
    Simstim from Neuromancer (released in 1984) is the first mention of such a thing that I know of.
    - atombender 2y ago
      Brainstorm (1983) did it before Neuromancer. The movie is about a device that records and replays sensory and emotional experiences, and a central plot point is that it records the dying moments of a character.
      - bregma 2y ago
        I thought the central point was the porn played on a loop. Maybe I was distracted and missed the real plot. Also maybe mixed up by the fact that one of the principle actors died in real life while the movie was being made.
        Fluorescence 2y ago
        The central point was like Lawnmower Man, the military / government were going to misuse the tech for evil purposes. The porn and the vicarious near-death-experience were just plot points.
        atombender 2y ago
        The military stuff is a McGuffin-type subplot. The real plot is the main character's obsession with seeing Lillian's vision of the afterlife. The author of the screenplay, Bruce Joel Rubin, is a self-described spiritual teacher, and "transitional journeys" is kind of his thing. His three most well-known films (Brainstorm, Ghost, and Jacob's Ladder) are all about characters experiencing the afterlife in some way.
        atombender 2y ago
        The porn thing showed that the device could be harmful to the viewer. This adds another dimension of risk to the later scenes where the Walker character is experiencing the death tape. The actor was Natalie Wood, and the event is shrouded in mystery about how she died. However, the character who dies in the movie is played by Louise Fletcher.
- wahern 2y ago
  > Maybe in some way one could argue that social media gives some sort of connection were you get some feelings from what others are doing/showing. I mean, technologically it's quite a leap That technology exists; it's called empathy, and the extremely powerful form of it innate to humans is arguably our singularly defining characteristic. It's our tech moat, so to speak.
- Mistletoe 2y ago
  This is exactly the parasocial way my girlfriend's niece and friends experience life. No relationships of their own, it is all celebrities and their lives, ingested on their phones. I don't have the heart to tell them that 95% of it is stuff created by PR firms.
  - lazystar 2y ago
    playing devils advocate for a minute... isnt that similar to what our parents said in the 80's/90's about our generation? all that "tv and phone" brain rot
    - tirant 2y ago
      And they were right. But we would watch TV usually together and only for around 4-5 hours a day. Do you know how much screen time are people having ? 8 to 10 hours are not uncommon. And alone.
    - maccard 2y ago
      Yes. And what the previous generation said about rock music. Celebrities and “socialites” have been idolised for years - Paris Hilton certainly isn’t the doing of this generation, neither is Jackie Kennedy. If you think that what we’re doing with mobile apps and social media is new, take a look at the 20th century a little harder.
      - addicted 2y ago
        1. People were clearly wrong about music. Audio only is clearly not as addictive as video + audio. 2. People did say that about TV and TV maybe had the potential to be like this. However, TV failed in many ways to be a hyper addictive device. Some of the many reasons: i. Just less content. There wasn’t that much TV content at all. YT probably adds more content in an hour than all the TV content ever created. ii. You couldn’t choose what you wanted to watch beyond a few dozen channels at best. So you always had opportunities where you were forced to do something different at many times. iii. The TV wasn’t available to you at all times. You had to go to the den to watch it and you couldn’t take it to school with you. iv. TV couldn’t specifically target you individually with content to keep you watching. The most amount of targeting TV could do was at maybe a county level. v. You couldn’t be part of the TV. Social media and phones today make you an integral part of the “show” where a kid can end up having a video of them popping their pants on a playground shown to millions of people. Even in a more ordinary sense, a kid commenting on a video or sending a message to a friend makes them part of the device in a way TV never could outside of extraordinary situations.
- sandworm101 2y ago
  >> some sort of connection were you get some feelings from what others are doing/showing. I mean, technologically it's quite a leap, but in a conceptual way... it's still a bit of a leap but maybe not that big. Play that VR game set within in the shark cage. The adrenaline rush is definitely not much of a leap from the real thing.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
cassianoleal 2y ago
Or the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Game [0]. Every time I watch that I get this eerie sensation that we're essentially giving our free will up to the masters of the games and social platforms we're addicted to. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_%28Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_%28Star_Trek:_The_Nex...
- vouaobrasil 2y ago
  Darn, I forgot that episode. That's a very eerie parallel to some of what we have today.
  - NBJack 2y ago
    "If you just let the game happen, it almost plays itself." The quote from the episode certainly makes me think about the "idle games" genre that has emerged in that last several years.
- dartos 2y ago
  Wow! The game in this episode has been living in my head since I was a child and I could never find where it was from! I need to watch this episode again
Izkata 2y ago
Offhand the only drug-like thing I remember from that series is the nutrition bars that had 0 calories that most of the school got addicted to. Or maybe the cheerleader that got bee pheromones and started controlling the rest of the students. Aside - I just learned a month ago that there's an official followup miniseries that brought back several of the original actors, titled "Echoes", with hopefully more coming since it's called Season 1. Came out over 2022-2023: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHGrvCp5nsDJ1qSoKZEmmRqP9BrxNpcpu https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHGrvCp5nsDJ1qSoKZEmm... (the trailers are at the bottom of the playlist)
- Izkata 2y ago
  Dangit tried to delete this when I realized this is completely unrelated, just a similar name, and was seconds late. Got the delete link then it denied me.
  - DiggyJohnson 2y ago
    Straight to the dungeon for you.
- lostemptations5 2y ago
  Best OT I've seen in a while : )
layer8 2y ago
Brainstorm (1983) had the tape version of that.
TacticalCoder 2y ago
> Suddenly I remember this movie from the 90s where people drugged themself with some kind of minidisc. With Ralph Fiennes. I think that, although strange, it's actually an underrated movie.
- briandear 2y ago
  That movie was awesome. I remember the first time I saw the trailer in an actual movie theater. It was mindblowing. “Have you ever jacked-in, wire-tripped..” “Santa Claus of the subconscious” https://youtu.be/8RoOs-S_JVI https://youtu.be/8RoOs-S_JVI
atomicnumber3 2y ago
In Serial Experiments Lain, they have a drug that makes your brain think really fast.

dragonwriter 2y ago

The minidiscs in that case where full-sensory VR recordings of people’s experiences.

genezeta 2y ago

The discs had -in the movie- the memories of another person, and you would experience that memory and sensations as if you were living it. So, e.g. someone would record themselves doing something risky and you would get the adrenaline rush from watching it. So... Maybe in some way one could argue that social media gives some sort of connection were you get some feelings from what others are doing/showing. I mean, technologically it's quite a leap, but in a conceptual way... it's still a bit of a leap but maybe not that big.

twiceaday 2y ago
Sounds like Brain Dances (BDs) from Cyberpunk 2077.
- nyc_data_geek1 2y ago
  Yes, which originally came from Cyberpunk, the first sourcebook for which was released in 1988, with Cyberpunk 2020 releasing in 1990 complete with the idea for pre-recorded replayable memories/full sensory experience, ie:Braindance. Strange Days was released in 1995. Maximum Mike was, and is, a prophet right alongside Gibson. edit: Although almost certainly this wasn't the first place people imagined being able to record and playback memories.
  - saxonww 2y ago
    Made me think of Total Recall, which was adapted from "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," looks like from 1966.
  - Fluorescence 2y ago
    Wiki tells me there was a Cyberpunk 2013 released in 1988. Feels like a millennial cult that keeps missing it's big day... Cyberpunk 2013 - join us! Jack in choom Cyberpunk 2020 - oops sorry, had to reschedule Cyberpunk 2077 - crazy story, anyway we've got a new date Cyberpunk ???? - this time, we promise!
- ahartmetz 2y ago
  Simstim from Neuromancer (released in 1984) is the first mention of such a thing that I know of.
  - atombender 2y ago
    Brainstorm (1983) did it before Neuromancer. The movie is about a device that records and replays sensory and emotional experiences, and a central plot point is that it records the dying moments of a character.
    - bregma 2y ago
      I thought the central point was the porn played on a loop. Maybe I was distracted and missed the real plot. Also maybe mixed up by the fact that one of the principle actors died in real life while the movie was being made.
      - Fluorescence 2y ago
        The central point was like Lawnmower Man, the military / government were going to misuse the tech for evil purposes. The porn and the vicarious near-death-experience were just plot points.
        atombender 2y ago
        The military stuff is a McGuffin-type subplot. The real plot is the main character's obsession with seeing Lillian's vision of the afterlife. The author of the screenplay, Bruce Joel Rubin, is a self-described spiritual teacher, and "transitional journeys" is kind of his thing. His three most well-known films (Brainstorm, Ghost, and Jacob's Ladder) are all about characters experiencing the afterlife in some way.
      - atombender 2y ago
        The porn thing showed that the device could be harmful to the viewer. This adds another dimension of risk to the later scenes where the Walker character is experiencing the death tape. The actor was Natalie Wood, and the event is shrouded in mystery about how she died. However, the character who dies in the movie is played by Louise Fletcher.
wahern 2y ago
> Maybe in some way one could argue that social media gives some sort of connection were you get some feelings from what others are doing/showing. I mean, technologically it's quite a leap That technology exists; it's called empathy, and the extremely powerful form of it innate to humans is arguably our singularly defining characteristic. It's our tech moat, so to speak.
Mistletoe 2y ago
This is exactly the parasocial way my girlfriend's niece and friends experience life. No relationships of their own, it is all celebrities and their lives, ingested on their phones. I don't have the heart to tell them that 95% of it is stuff created by PR firms.
- lazystar 2y ago
  playing devils advocate for a minute... isnt that similar to what our parents said in the 80's/90's about our generation? all that "tv and phone" brain rot
  - tirant 2y ago
    And they were right. But we would watch TV usually together and only for around 4-5 hours a day. Do you know how much screen time are people having ? 8 to 10 hours are not uncommon. And alone.
  - maccard 2y ago
    Yes. And what the previous generation said about rock music. Celebrities and “socialites” have been idolised for years - Paris Hilton certainly isn’t the doing of this generation, neither is Jackie Kennedy. If you think that what we’re doing with mobile apps and social media is new, take a look at the 20th century a little harder.
    - addicted 2y ago
      1. People were clearly wrong about music. Audio only is clearly not as addictive as video + audio. 2. People did say that about TV and TV maybe had the potential to be like this. However, TV failed in many ways to be a hyper addictive device. Some of the many reasons: i. Just less content. There wasn’t that much TV content at all. YT probably adds more content in an hour than all the TV content ever created. ii. You couldn’t choose what you wanted to watch beyond a few dozen channels at best. So you always had opportunities where you were forced to do something different at many times. iii. The TV wasn’t available to you at all times. You had to go to the den to watch it and you couldn’t take it to school with you. iv. TV couldn’t specifically target you individually with content to keep you watching. The most amount of targeting TV could do was at maybe a county level. v. You couldn’t be part of the TV. Social media and phones today make you an integral part of the “show” where a kid can end up having a video of them popping their pants on a playground shown to millions of people. Even in a more ordinary sense, a kid commenting on a video or sending a message to a friend makes them part of the device in a way TV never could outside of extraordinary situations.
sandworm101 2y ago
>> some sort of connection were you get some feelings from what others are doing/showing. I mean, technologically it's quite a leap, but in a conceptual way... it's still a bit of a leap but maybe not that big. Play that VR game set within in the shark cage. The adrenaline rush is definitely not much of a leap from the real thing.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

cassianoleal 2y ago

Or the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Game [0]. Every time I watch that I get this eerie sensation that we're essentially giving our free will up to the masters of the games and social platforms we're addicted to. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_%28Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_%28Star_Trek:_The_Nex...

vouaobrasil 2y ago
Darn, I forgot that episode. That's a very eerie parallel to some of what we have today.
- NBJack 2y ago
  "If you just let the game happen, it almost plays itself." The quote from the episode certainly makes me think about the "idle games" genre that has emerged in that last several years.
dartos 2y ago
Wow! The game in this episode has been living in my head since I was a child and I could never find where it was from! I need to watch this episode again

Izkata 2y ago

Offhand the only drug-like thing I remember from that series is the nutrition bars that had 0 calories that most of the school got addicted to. Or maybe the cheerleader that got bee pheromones and started controlling the rest of the students. Aside - I just learned a month ago that there's an official followup miniseries that brought back several of the original actors, titled "Echoes", with hopefully more coming since it's called Season 1. Came out over 2022-2023: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHGrvCp5nsDJ1qSoKZEmmRqP9BrxNpcpu https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHGrvCp5nsDJ1qSoKZEmm... (the trailers are at the bottom of the playlist)

Izkata 2y ago
Dangit tried to delete this when I realized this is completely unrelated, just a similar name, and was seconds late. Got the delete link then it denied me.
- DiggyJohnson 2y ago
  Straight to the dungeon for you.
lostemptations5 2y ago
Best OT I've seen in a while : )

layer8 2y ago

Brainstorm (1983) had the tape version of that.

TacticalCoder 2y ago

> Suddenly I remember this movie from the 90s where people drugged themself with some kind of minidisc. With Ralph Fiennes. I think that, although strange, it's actually an underrated movie.

briandear 2y ago
That movie was awesome. I remember the first time I saw the trailer in an actual movie theater. It was mindblowing. “Have you ever jacked-in, wire-tripped..” “Santa Claus of the subconscious” https://youtu.be/8RoOs-S_JVI https://youtu.be/8RoOs-S_JVI

atomicnumber3 2y ago

In Serial Experiments Lain, they have a drug that makes your brain think really fast.