Mulling over Marnie Trosclair to Steve Asher 16 Apr 2005

G'day Marnie!

 MT> I've been following your posts about chips and stuff, and this
 MT> recent exchange prompted me to do a little searching on Google:

SA> have chips embedded under their skin that let them send emails 
SA> just by thinking.

GP> Oh, that one needs some elucidation!

GP> I can't believe that they can send an email just by THINKING!

 MT> The very notion of communicating via thought interests me greatly.
 MT> That some are attempting to accomplish this by augmenting the brain
 MT> with chips and electronic circuitry suggests a possible split or 
 MT> diverging of paths, where man becomes more dependent on machines
 MT> along the first path, and man develops heightened senses or extra-
 MT> sensory perception along a second path.  My thoughts along these
 MT> lines aren't well-developed to the point where I can articulate 
 MT> them without sounding incredibly foolish.  :-)  

I don't think you sound incredibly foolish at all. The research has
transformed sci-fi into reality, with all its potential for good and
evil.
 
 MT> So... I'll leave it at that.  However, I want to share with you 
 MT> this list of links that I found.  You may be surprised, as I was, 
 MT> by some of the developments described on these links:

I've just been exploring the links, & bookmarking them for future
reference. The Cyberkinetics BrainGate trials have made thought
control of computers & other devices a reality - a quadriplegic 
should be able to control a computer to send an email by thought.

 MT> Cyberkinetics' BrainGate(TM) Neural Interface System

 MT> "The sensor is a tiny silicone chip about the size of a baby
 MT> aspirin  with one hundred electrodes, each thinner than a hair,
 MT> that detect  the electrical activity of neurons.  The sensor is
 MT> implanted on the  surface of the area of the brain responsible for
 MT> movement, the  primary motor cortex. ..."

 MT> http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/health/edell/031105_he_parabrain_researc
 MT> h.html 

 MT> Cyberkinetics' BrainGate(TM) 

 MT> "The System consists of a sensor that is implanted on the motor
 MT> cortex  of the brain and a device that analyzes brain signals. ...
 MT> The signals are interpreted and translated into cursor
 MT> movements,... "

(snip)

 MT> World Transhumanist Association
 MT> http://www.transhumanism.org

 MT> Transhumanism By Francis Fukuyama
 MT> http://georgeovermeire.nl/transhumanisme.nl/fukuyama.html

 MT> Reason: Transhumanism: The Most Dangerous Idea?
 MT> http://www.reason.com/rb/rb082504.shtml

You are probably right about the divergence into two paths - one path
will probably seek to restore human abilities through technology, while
the other will seek to expand / transcend them, as a form of high-tech
witchcraft, where the implant replaces the wand.

Cheers, Steve..

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