Transhumanism Starts With The First Brain To Computer Interface

The melding of man and machine is at our fingertips as prominent names have begun to tackle the challenge of devising technologies that can not only can read your thoughts, but can react to them, just as well. Let me introduce you to the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). A device that can interpret information directly from the brain. Now, the applications of such a device are endless. Prominent figures Ellon Musk, Facebook, and even the U.S. military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have all invested into the development of this technology.

Medical science has already been engaged in the act of developing such devices as the medical benefits are easily seen. Everything from controlling the movement of prosthetic limbs to aiding a deaf person to hear the sound of their environment, are all potential applications among an endless list of ways in which this technology could reshape how we view the term "disabled".

Ellon Musk announced, in March, that his venture, Neuralink, would be investing in the development of their version of the BCI. Initially, they will use the guise of advancing medical science, but have ambitious goals of reaching "consensual telepathy" in around 5 years.

Total destruction, that is what!
Imagine living in a world where your memories could be hacked from you in passing, and your deepest, darkest secrets could be viewed by any random person with the technology to do so. Now, imagine a government that does so on a vast scale, and strips you of your personal liberties, intervening whenever they see something that goes against the grain through "passive" surveillance. Rigorous screening processes to get a job involving the viewing of your personal memories to determine if you are a "good fit" for their cultural environment could very-well become the norm is this futuristic setting.

Well, with entrepreneurs and businessmen alike driving the development of such technologies in order to profit off of their application, there is a dark flip-side to what powerful devices such as the BCI can have on humanity in general. Where there is money to be made, there will always be someone willing to fill that niche to collect the rewards. The only problem here is that this technology could very-well benefit those attempting to achieve its initial design in the short term, but at the detriment to the rest of us over time.

Perhaps I am being a bit over dramatic... The BCI is far from being perfected, and the technology is still wired at this point but just as computers have evolved to what we have today, as this thing progresses and more advancements are achieved in its development then having wireless capabilities is not too far fetched and is currently being developed