Black Mirror is what they call “hard science fiction” (called that for lack of better term), which is when a sci-fi story stands on a strong (and accurate) scientific concept/speculation which is meant to “ask questions” (usually philosophical ones). https://twitter.com/purplecaliskies/status/1301818357885231104

It’s the opposite of “soft science fiction” where the science part is often just there to be cool and support the narrative.
Hard science fiction (HScifi for this thread) would come up with a scientific concept then ask “what would we (humans) do?”. The concept is integral.

It would work hard to make sure that the science is accurate and possible some time in the future, going often into research towards current technology trends and see how it affects people NOW, and then create a trajectory of its future.
HScifi tends to be “cold”. It studies us.

Star Trek used to be borderline HScifi. It has since 2000s ceased to be.
Black Mirror is HScifi. Westworld (series). 2001. Ex Machina.

There is story and soul and all that, but the centre is the science. Makes us think about how humanity would react towards technology/science.

HScifi often “predicts” the future well, because it generally puts a lot of effort into the science. The people who write them are either those who master the subjects or consult the experts.
This is why old Star Trek and 2001 are famous for accurately predicting technology.

HScifi fans are generally what people call “nerds” due to their affinity towards science above all other aspects of the story, which unfortunately often means they are dismissive of those who don’t treat the science seriously, as simpletons

Because of that also, HScifi generally does not have broad appeal. They are not as fun as the typical soft scifi romp like... Transformers for instance. Or Terminator. Or the Marvel films.

As I said earlier, Star Trek used to be HScifi. Then I suppose those in charge wants to bring in mass appeal. So they jettison the hard science part and convert into soft scifi.

This change is a big reason older fans loathe the new films and series, as they’re considered “dumb”.

Anyway. Science fiction can be fun. Personally it’s my favourite genre. In fact I prefer it much more to fantasy, even IF a lot of my favourite series are actually fantasy