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Comment by enoreyes | Hacker News Reader

Looks like Bloomberg just posted their pre-written article on accident:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-17/elon-musk...

>“We will painlessly laser-drill the holes into the skull, place the threads, plug the hole with the sensor, and then you go home,” he says. “It’ll basically be an experience like getting Lasik.”

Maybe I've read a bit too much cyberpunk lore in my day, but this sounds incredibly ambitious. Can't wait for the livestream to start!

As someone who had a magnet inserted and eventually removed from a finger: wait for the 2nd or 3rd revision.

The first versions of the magnet implants had an unnerving tendency to shatter or have their neutral coating breach. And we're talking about the brain here - any damage caused by implanted devices may not be nearly as obvious as an exploded finger. I never miss an opportunity to trot out this quote from Alpha Centauri:

>I think, and my thoughts cross the barrier into the synapses of the machine - just as the good doctor intended. But what I cannot shake, and what hints at things to come, is that thoughts cross back. In my dreams the sensibility of the machine invades the periphery of my consciousness. Dark. Rigid. Cold. Alien. Evolution is at work here, but just what is evolving remains to be seen.

If I think about how omnipresent computers and data are in my life now, I wonder how much we can use that as a starting point for what some of that evolution might look like.

For example...

- I find myself trying to memorize fewer things if I can easily reference them digitally later

- My expectations for having answers at my fingertips has grown such that not having internet or cell service causes anxiety

- My communication is increasingly in a pure visual format, condensing complex ideas, concepts, emotions etc. to a pic or gif. Further, my concept of a photo has bifurcated into more permanent photos I care about, and more ephemeral "pics" that get forgotten about. TBD whether I'd say my overall communication throughout speed has increased

- Phantom phone vibrations when I don't have my device on me

- Shortened attention span due to the wealth of data immediately available, but also many notifications vying for my attention

- A tendency to avoid situations where I'd be without electricity long term

- The ability to enjoy virtual experiences in a way that delivers some of the enjoyment of in-person experiences (think socializing in online games)

Maybe a composite ring with a magnet in it might have a larger market. In the same way ctrl-labs might give you an early-adopter heads-up (although it would be one-way communication)

Simple and painless operation does not mean operation without risks. Even small microsurgery into the brain has infection risk. If successful, Neurallink will be used only for patients in cases where benefits outweigh the risks.

You can start thinking about brain augmentation for non-medical reasons after the technology has been used for decade or so and all the side effects and risks have been minimized.

Their machine is really impressive. I think for a medical device a needle has a great advantage from the safety perspective. You can make a needle that will never penetrate too deep into the brain because it is physically too short. Not so much for a laser capable of burning through skin which, if there is a bug in the controller would burn through the soft tissue in a matter of seconds.

> A wire attached to a USB-C port in its head transmitted its thoughts to a nearby computer

Any speculation around why USB-C was used? Or why this was a detail Neuralink wanted to message on?

Show that it is easily programmable and hackable by end users, like an Arduino.

Arduino can process USB now? I remember back then atmega chips could not handle a usb driver due to clock speed.

Arduino Uno has had native USB support since 2010. It's not USB3, of course.

Full speed USB-C allows for high-bandwidth and easy to plug in. It's a pretty good connector if you don't need severe weather resistance.

Using off the shelf hardware saves time for the scientists to develop more meaningful parts of the system.

Using off the shelf hardware makes it seem a little less hacky than if they were running a bunch of jumper wires off a DB-25 connector from an old printer.

Why pay extra for a special purpose cable to plug your skull into the matrix when you can just get a 99 cent one off Alibaba?

One reason I can think of: a 99 cent one off of alibaba might deliver a 100 volt jolt directly to a device that is electrically connected to your brain, killing you instantly.

I'm all for universal standards, but this really does seem like a case where the connection should be a clean sheet (maybe even proprietary) design where safety parameters can be tightly controlled. My guess is that they're using USB during the development phase for ease of development (they probably just haven't spent the time on making a different connector yet). I would be very surprised to see this actually go to market with a USB-C port. Given the notorious issues with USB-C cables, I would be surprised if the FDA even approved a device with a user-accessible USB-C port.

Nope, the Verge article said that it will a WiFi connection.

I don't see how a (passive) cable can create a 100volt jolt out of thin air.

I agree. I was being sarcastic.

Because it's a buzzword that people know and Musk wants normal people to feel like they understand what he's doing.

You can plug it in either way around so it's easy to insert? /s

Researchers typically use what's easily available, cheap and well understood. Back in the day it was serial connectors. It's just a bog-standard connector.

A mature product may well use a proprietary connector that isolates against brain-zapping, has better shielding, has no snap-off parts, etc.

how terrifying.

given USB C as a "standard" is a complete mess atm...

By accident, not "on accident":

https://writingexplained.org/on-accident-or-by-accident

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=by+accident%2C...

indeed! I thought some crazy accident happened with the brain implant

Irregardless of your wishes, language evolves. Parts of the US use "on".

The everlasting conflict between descriptive and normative linguists.

I'm aware. The first link I gave says as much.

However while it's accepted in regional spoken US English, it's not accepted in written English, even US English.

As for evolution, language does indeed evolve but only when changes are accepted by a significant number of speakers. No matter how much you wish it, you can't simply start forcing a linguistic change on society without society agreeing. If you start to spell "agree" as "agrii" for example, nearly all English speakers will (rightly) tell you that you're wrong, you can't just respond to them with "language evolves". "On accident" is still rare enough that we have a choice to reject it and that's the choice I'm making.

Also, remember that there are non-Americans on this site (I'm one of them). To us, this is simply incorrect. We don't have exposure to this kind of US English in most of the American media we consume (TV, movies etc.).

both are used, "on accident" frequently enough to be considered legit, although I agree it sounds weird.

Since we're being sticklers, your use of "By accident" should have been in quotes.

We are not amused.

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