Last week I was watching a video featuring Elon Musk talking about one of his projects, now in an advanced stage of development, which will allow robotic surgeons to implant wifi enabled nano chips into our brains. These chips and robots now exist and can provide read and write access to the brain. These chips can communicate with any wifi device such as a phone or laptop, and could be used in any number of ways. I have to say that by the end of this video I had a thousand questions in my mind, and many of them quite important ones! I mean, read and WRITE access means that you could basically brainwash people, or send them just about any information or idea in an instant.. and they may have NO IDEA it is even happening. Its easy to see that in the wrong hands, this would take even George Orwells nightmare vision of total control to the next level!
Last night i asked two children aged 12 and 15 whether they would want to have a chip implanted, IF it could provide them with so many amazing benefits. I reeled of a tempting list.. I told them that they would never have to carry ID around with them, no passports to lose, no more filling in forms. I told them they could learn a new language in one day, or anything they wanted.. it wouldn’t hurt and it would be free. The response was 50:50. The 12 year old boy was quite open to it, and seemed to like the idea.. with slight reservations. The 15 year old girl, a very nature oriented and organic type of person... was not interested. As we finished up the little chat, it dawned on me that the children of today will very soon be the adults of tomorrow, and that they really are very comfortable with technology, and that what may seem to many of us as quite scary, is maybe not a big deal at all for them.
So as we hurtle along toward what really seems to me to be an inevitable cyborg future, I ask myself just how many people are going to end up living in an augmented reality, with super human skills, vision, powers and who knows what else. Would people not be almost compelled to install these chips into their brains if everyone else was doing it, and it made life SO much better and easier? It would be just like today’s society, where those without a cell phone are at a significant disadvantage in many ways, or at least to them it seems that way when all their friends have one and never stop talking about it.
Perhaps this high tech brain implant would only be available to the most affluent and powerful people? Perhaps it would be so expensive that most of the developing world would never be able to afford one.. Perhaps it could create an even bigger divide between the rich and poor, with the lucky few walking around like Gods or the super heros we see on TV with all their special powers. But i have to ask, IF only a select few were able to afford this, then what would they use this technology for? In a way there is no satisfactory solution or answer, because if everyone becomes a cyborg then who knows what will become of us, and if just a few gain these super heroic powers, then will we just become controlled, brainwashed pawns in their game?
So! The question this week is NOT whether you think it is a good idea or not to have a chip, or the many positive or negative possibilities of them. Instead I would like you to clear your mind, and think very carefully whether YOU would have one?! I know that many of you might instinctively say NO way, never, and indeed some of you may also instinctively say, YES, this is what we need.. SO therefore I would like you to really think about it, and the many ways in which this could help you and improve your life.. as well as any fears you may have. I would also be interested to hear what you would do with super powers, and you can decide which kind of powers you would have? These implants can be used to give you x ray vision, night vision, super strength, incredible intelligence, the ability to know, do or learn any skill that you want. SO, with such potential, what would you do?!
If you are interested, you can watch this same video with Elon Musk. It is a bit mind blowing that we are now at this stage of our technology. We live on the cusp of something that we can not even imagine or understand.
So, I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
ALL ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US ON THIS QOTW!
- We welcome everyone to join us and post your answer to this question titled "Would You Like To Be A Super Hero? No Really!?"
- Your answer can be a written post, a video, or any way you wish to express yourself.
- You can post anytime from now until Wednesday 7th August
- Use the tag 'ecotrain' along with any other tags you wish to use.
- DON'T FORGET TO post a link to your post in the comments below so that I will be sure to find it.
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