This video game that took 4 years to develop and cost $2 million? 15/20
This new OLED smart TV? 12 / 20
That hotel close to the city center? 3 out of 5 stars
This restaurant in the countryside? 4 /10
This pack of 8 sponges? 1 out of 5 stars
This math homework? C-
This driving test? 13 / 20
This credit score? 750 / 910
This Uber driver? 4/5
That face on Tinder? Pass
This intimate relationship that lasted 4 months? 11/ 20 ?
Everything is rated, and everything can be rated nowadays. In addition to public scores, companies and employers constantly collect and aggregate secret notes on each of us, on our behaviors, on our lifestyles.
You can lose a job following a “360° Evaluation” which consists of colleagues constantly judging each other every day of the year, or following customer feedback on an application.
Everyone becomes everyone’s overseer.
Did he make the coffee well? Were the washrooms clean? Did she take the best route to take me to the station? Has he managed to pay his rent constantly?
What is its former owner? or employer says of him?
It also results in systems where oppressors can continue to harm their victims when they are in a position of power.
“This colleague refused my advances and is looking for a new job? I’m going to give him bad references”
Giving an Uber driver a bad rating can be detrimental to him.
Being sick, having a bad day, being in pain, being angry, feeling sad can be used against you.
Having difficulty making payments for a few months, is rated for life in our credit score.
etc.
This is the principle of the collaborative economy.
The best way to ensure that a population does not protest and obeys absurd rules is to ensure that everyone watches everyone else, and can thus report the behaviour of others to designated authorities.
Featured image: from the ARTE video below: All rated | The code has changed | ARTE
