http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/sunday-review/how-science-can-build-a-better-you.html?_r=0
Personally, I think at the end of the day, it still matters more what a person's stance on freedom and individual rights is than whether or not they have a head-computer.
But that's just me.
And even if you don't think that people will ever go beyond just replacing broken limbs, this is still very exciting for disabled people everywhere.
Then, of course, the question continues to a more personal note: How far will YOU go?
As the article puts it...
Hmmm...
Transhumans are coming and, as a 22 year old, I'm going to be among the people voting for them, becoming them and generally dealing with the issues brought up by super-empowering technology like this.In a future presidential election, would you vote for a candidate who had neural implants that helped optimize his or her alertness and functionality during a crisis, or in a candidates’ debate? Would you vote for a commander in chief who wasn’t equipped with such a device?
If these seem like tinfoil-on-the-head questions, consider the case of Cathy Hutchinson. Paralyzed by a stroke, she recently drank a canister of coffee by using a prosthetic arm controlled by thought. She was helped by a device called Braingate, a tiny bed of electrodes surgically implanted on her motor cortex and connected by a wire to a computer.
Personally, I think at the end of the day, it still matters more what a person's stance on freedom and individual rights is than whether or not they have a head-computer.
But that's just me.
And even if you don't think that people will ever go beyond just replacing broken limbs, this is still very exciting for disabled people everywhere.
Then, of course, the question continues to a more personal note: How far will YOU go?
As the article puts it...
Which leads us to the crucial question: How far would you go to modify yourself using the latest medical technology?
Over the last couple of years during talks and lectures, I have asked thousands of people a hypothetical question that goes like this: “If I could offer you a pill that allowed your child to increase his or her memory by 25 percent, would you give it to them?”
The show of hands in this informal poll has been overwhelming, with 80 percent or more voting no.
Then I asked a follow-up question. “What if this pill was safe and increased your kid’s grades from a B average to an A average?” People tittered nervously, looked around to see how others were voting as nearly half said yes. (Many didn’t vote at all.)
“And what if all of the other kids are taking the pill?” I asked. The tittering stopped and nearly everyone voted yes.
Hmmm...