Module Eleven

            Minority Report is story based on a computer system that is attached to three psychic beings that are a part of a crime prevention unit called Precrime.  Precrime arrests people for crimes which they are about to commit not committed.  Precrime uses computers that are connected to the psychics to unravel the events of the crime that is going to be committed.  The captain of Precrime, John Anderton, uses gloves with special devices in them to control the computer program to go to certain scenes of the crime to uncover clues.  He can enlarge the picture and stop the scene to look at different areas of the scene.  He then gives these clues and instructions to his teammates to search the internet for answers to lead them to where the potential criminal is.  Once the location of the potential criminal is located the team is then deployed to arrest the person.  The whole system is working fine until Captain John Anderton uncovers the fact that he will be charged with the precrime or murder.  Now he is on a quest to clear his name and figure out why he would commit this crime. 

Precrime also employs the use of retina scanners to allow employees into certain areas of their department based on the retinal scan.  Retina scanners are also used identify people throughout the city, monitoring their every move.  When a person walks into a store they are immediately identified and greeted.  They are then asked a question about their last visit and the items bought preciously.  I believe this part of the story could actually one day be enacted as a ploy of the government to control the people.  The use of the retina scanner, in my opinion, is a horrendous invasion of our privacy and can expose the human race to unfair and undue treatment. 

            The use of computers is quite extensive in this movie.  It is petrifying to think that computers can and are that much a part of our lives.  A good portion of what is depicted about the role computers can have in our lived is either true at this point or will be in the foreseeable future.  I think the only part that may be in question, in my mind, would be the psychics in water and being hooked up to the computer and telling people’s future behaviors through the computers.  I guess that it could be possible to hook a human up to a computer in convey what is going on in their mind through the computer.  I know they can record brain waves, but to actually have what they see in their minds portrayed on a computer screen, I am not sure that is realistic at this point.  It may be possible in the future.  At the rate that technology is growing and expanding, I would not be surprised if someday that it could actually happen. 

            There are some very concerning issues that can come from these advancements that would have a huge impact on society and the freedoms that we enjoy now.  By requiring people to be subjected to a retinal scan for identification, can result in a loss of freedom and invasion of privacy.  People are easily identified, tracked in their daily lives, such as where they shop and what they buy.  All of their personal information becomes public knowledge.  This, in my opinion, would be extremely dangerous to society.  People would no longer belong to themselves.  People would be under the watchful eye of business owners and government. 

            The other concerning aspect is the thought of arresting a person for a crime for which they have not yet committed.  It is merely the predictions of a psychic saying that an individual is going to commit a crime.  A person no longer has their constitutional right of innocent until proven guilty.  They are being arrested and convicted of a crime that they have not yet committed.  Where is the justice in that?  Just because a person has a possible thought that they would like to take someone’s life does not actually mean that they would really commit such a crime.  The impact of a person being convicted of a crime they have not yet committed can destroy society as we know it.  It may be a positive thought at first to rid the world of crime and violence, but to what end.  Convicting a person of a crime that they have not committed is a travesty of justice and a violation of the constitutional rights we were given. 

            Minority Report was an interesting movie based on the use of computers and psychics to a crime before it happened.  I found the use of computers in this movie to be very interesting.  With the advances in technology, much of what was depicted in the movie is possible either now or in the foreseeable future.  The impact that the computer advancements would and/or could have on society is was is truly terrifying.   In my opinion, the human race would lose freedoms and the right to a fair trial - innocent until proven guilty.