From: ManuelOmar@aol.com
Date: Sun Apr 15 2001 - 17:33:28 MDT
I don't necessarily think that neurotechnology is a bad thing. It'd be nice to have a datajack port installed in my car and another in my head so that I could mentally drive it to class and be able to eat breakfast on the way there with both hands free, instead of having to skip it or multitask between dodging pedestrians or eating my sandwich.
Such an interface would probably also decrease the number of accidents, since it takes less time to merely think about stopping your car than it does to think about it, then wait for the action potential to go down your leg to your foot, which will then press a gas pedal.
I could probably also listen to the radio with such a device, and also mentally chat on a cell phone with friends.
On the other hand, what if somebody messed with the signal inhibitor in the port? Suddenly, instead of normal volume, I'm blasted with a wave of sound (all in my head, of course) so intense that I pass out from the shock, and crash. Or I'm bombarded with constant ads for products that I can't turn off, short of disconnecting the port. Maybe even then, it won't be able to get rid of it, if you listen to a song long enough, it gets stuck in your head, after all. You find yourself humming it, even when you dont want to.
Security in neurotechnology, and the prevention of it's abuse, it going to be 100 times more important than security in the computer industry, which is pretty damn imporant.
And with all these viruses, and all the bugs with Windows, etc, etc... well, we've *seen* just how secure computers are.
Now imagine the same level of buggyness in something <i>directly wired to your brain</i>.
-Manny
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