While listening to a podcast discussing Star Wars: Attack of The Clones, arguably the worst of all the films, one host points out a hidden gem amongst the mess. One of the main characters, Obi-wan, visits the Jedi archives (a sci-fi private library) looking for information on a new planet that he just learned exists.
Instead of helpful information, the archivist running the place tells him that they have no record of that planet. Obi-wan insists that they must be mistaken as he’s just spoken with someone who’s been there. The archivist responds that, “If it’s not in the Jedi archives, then it doesn’t exist.”
As a scene, this just makes a mystery more mysterious, pushing the plot forward. As a social commentary, this old scene raises a very current issue:
These digital archives have created a digital reality for these people. If it can’t be called up at your fingertips to prove that something is real, its reality becomes questionable because that archive has become the reality and not actual reality.
And this is one of the things that indicates this society is declining. Their records are no longer under their own control. They’ve outsourced memory to things that can be hacked. To things that can be stolen and altered.
This is a problem that feels more science than fiction. How many present day records have we outsourced to systems beyond our control? How much of the current reality is being questioned by people believing everything is altered?
What are we denying the existence of simply because the AI flavor of the week can’t find it?