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Saw this post (https://www.reddit.com/r/transhumanism/comments/9khib7/neuralink_how_the_human_brain_will_download/) and was thinking of the advantages and disadvantages of Elon Musk's Neuralink project.
On one hand, we can easily learn a lot of things. What takes maybe 4 years can be learned in 4 months. Or maybe something like that. We could manipulate our way of thinking thus preventing addiction.
On the other hand, it could be used to manipulate people by governments and corporations.
What do you think?

First direct brain-to-brain "social network" is a true meeting of minds (http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/News/248541-2018-10-01-first-direct-brain-to-brain-social-network-is-a-true.htm)


https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/Graphics/533-1001142652-brain-to-brain-1.jpg (http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/News/248541-2018-10-01-first-direct-brain-to-brain-social-network-is-a-true.htm)




Read more at https://newatlas.com/direct-brain-communication-brainnet/56571/.


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WOAH!!! That is crazy. I used to think when I was a kid that I could somehow send my thoughts to my friends by thinking really hard about it and imagining it being sent. I didn't realize that it is actually true and that there are already scientists doing something about it. Crazy! This is the first time I have read about a machine that can let you send messages without communicating!

Well, as you said there are both advantages and disadvantages in having a machine that can upload information into your brain. You could have info implanted on you. But you could also learn a lot of things. Anyway, Elon Musk's project is still in the works and I don't think it's going to be functional any time soon.

Everything has a downside, and everyone is an opportunist. Social media and cell phones serve legitimate purposes, but they also provide means of governments and corporations to control us right now. Neuralinks will be no different.

Not likely that we'll have super-intelligence and complete freedom from outside influence. You'll have to ask yourself what you value more: privacy/freedom or enhanced mental capacity.

Now wondering, in an era of widespread fake news, how easy would it be to upload false information using something like this? It would be crazy.

Well it would be cool if there is something like that. Then there's something called a virus. If they were able to make something like a transfer of files between brains, then I suppose they can also make something like a virus? Virus that can access past memories (Which might actually be useful sometimes, depends on the usage), Virus that can record incoming data, and maybe viruses that destroy the brain slowly.

That's the terrifying part...but only given that influencing consumer choices still serves a legitimate purpose by the time this technology rolls out. By the time we can merge with AI, I'm sure other technology would've made political and financial power carry less weight. These are the only powers behind such manipulation. 

Everything has a positive and negative side. Yes it would minimize the years to acquire knowledge, but the experiences where we can learn a lot would be set aside. It would make everyone less of a person as it losses the affective capacity of us humans.But it is a great thing to see that we are getting so much advance that we are now going into ourselves. Hoping that it would not cause any harm to individual as life is more valuable than the success of this invention.

I see more of a negative side here. With the current spread of fake news that becomes impossible to regulate, I can only imagine how far worse it`ll be in the future.

As neuralink is a network device, it raises the whole range of stuff related to it: malware, antiviruses, spam filters etc. which we we`ll have to account for.

As for learning 4 year info in 4 months, I`d not say it is exactly learning - you simply download information to your brain, but you lack your own logical conclusions that you obtain while you learn stuff traditional way.

I guess it will not be "learning" exactly. But if a virus is also "download" wouldn't it still be up to us to reject it the same way we could reject being brainwashed? Is the risk too high to have the ability to gain knowledge about something?

Doesn't this exist already? I swear I've seen this news  a couple of weeks ago already. Apparently, there are scientists that managed to upload knowledge into a person's brain. Although it's still in the infancy stage and requires peer review, I think this is pretty cool. If they developed this more, then more people will benefit from it.

We still have no idea how the brain will react to receiving loads of information in a way that is so different from conventional learning, or any of its derivatives.
May be there will be no way to regulate what we receive via the Neurolink apart from software measures, as the brain itself won`t have capability to regulate incoming info?
Btw, we already have the ability to gain knowledge about anything. It is dependent on the amount of time we wish to spend, but it is still present.

Why not? Virus aside, having a device that has the capability of uploading information into your brain would benefit a lot of people, the students being one. Sure there could be an issue with virus and malware, but if the reward is having the capability to absorb knowledge easily, then it's a risk I'm willing to take.

Well, this sort of thing is not going to come without repercussions in the least. You're going to see a push (when this sort of tech is mainstream, as you'd probably see uploading to the brain and downloading FROM the brain) from major tech companies (and other businesses) to advertise in peoples brains. As this is going to be the final area where people aren't monetized in the least, and this is going to be a crazy thing to see -- as no one is going to like this (as they don't like the current ads at all)

There's also going to be an onslaught of regulations relating to what's going to be allowed, and what's not going to be allowed in regard to playing with the human brain -- as humans don't typically like that sort of thing being used for profit from companies.

This is going to be a crazy world in around 50-75 years -- can't wait to see it.

Some of you may think I am a loon for saying this, but it applies here. I am a fan of cutting edge technology and try to keep up on research and development and technical papers in related areas.

I can tell you for a fact, knowing only the technology known to exist to the public, that it is possible to turn anyone into a walking meat puppet. This includes recording all sensory data digitally, feeding false sensory data into the brain, manipulating physical movement, as well as many other more precise emotional and physiological manipulations all without physical contact (EM only). This would turn any one of you into a tinfoil hat wearer in a second if you really knew the full extent of it. Again consider for a moment, this is WHAT IS IN PUBLIC. What is in private and military circles is often 50-100 years more developed than anything in the public domain as a general rule to maintain operational advantage over opponents, either military or business.

Ah, it's always crazy to think about the fact that military (and of course business, as they're the ones developing this tech) have tech that is about 100 years ahead of us. Which practically means they have some of the craziest machines known to man.

But yeah, I mean honestly I do think that at a certain point it is better to shield me from what's going on -- I don't need to know about some of the stuff that the government is making and what their capabilities are. That would probably blow my mind -- I would probably not ever recover.

If that's the case then there is the  possibility that a virus can also be uploaded in to the brain and I shudder to think how it's going to affect the brain. And this will also lead to the theft of information by hackers as well.

Totally agree. It is easy to underestimate the importance of brain and forget that it is not only info storage, but a much more complicated 'device'. Assuming the brain is already a computer operating on chemical reactions and electric impulses, in theory it seems not that hard to develop tech to trace those reactions, study them and invent device that will allow to gain entire control over one's reactions and emotions.
There should be proper protective features, but it is still not fail-safe - just as any anti-virus software nowadays. Repercussions of introducing neural interface seem to be much more grim and, in my opinion, they overshadow the positive side of obtaining and storing information faster and easier.

Im no neuroscientist but IMHO any uploading to the brain will be like a dream, it will saturate parts of the brain and might paint an idea or image but cells of the brain have memory, the ideas would fade unless you were constantly bombarded with the same information if you weren't it would just slowly disperse and disappear, how clearly or vividly do you remember a dream a few weeks ago? Because of this I doubt anything uploaded will be able to convince us of its reality. Modern neuroscientists believe there is two modes of processing information.. Fast and slow thinking.. Slow thinking can be regarded as autopilot doing things without bringing to the brains full attention.

Fast thinking is when you're having to make decisions, for example if a car was heading onto the pavement towards you. If somebody was to hijack your thoughts would they be manipulating your type 1 or type 2 thinking? I think when you think about it like that...

I think we are a long way away from needing to worry about the ideas of a Manchurian candidate or manipulated to think or change our views.