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Comment by etaioinshrdlu | Hacker News Reader

If human brains merge with computers, I hope we are running free software in our heads. The idea of code you cannot observe or control, in your head, seems like an attack on humanity. I'd like to see this put into actual law from the start, possibly at the level of a UN Human Rights declaration. I'm not interested in living in a world with an app store for your brain.

As an aside, the technical capability for true mind-reading doesn't seem too far fetched anymore. I don't think society is currently structured to accept the consequences of that. People are not what they appear to be on the outside.

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> The idea of code you cannot observe or control, in your head, seems like an attack on humanity

That sounds like a description of regular brain to me.

Reminds of a scene out of Westworld where they are talking about how the "hosts" are more human than humans since they can modify their "core directives" or the code running inside them. Cuts to the heart of the "free will" argument since humans cannot change "our core wiring."

Sure we can, that’s how we learn new skills and knowledge.

You can’t modify the process by which you learn those new skills though, can you?

That's literally what https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_sport is about.

That would be my thinking as well. Sure you can train yourself to learn new things "better" but there are some people who seem to be real polymaths at a level which the rest of us cannot seem to attain even with years of practice.

Yeah but at least no one else has access to it.

Don't tell marketing

And this assumption is based on what exactly?

applied psychology

Plenty of countries strut about on the world stage while maintaining complete disregard for UN declarations. I don’t think that’s going to help.

There are rare moments in big developments when individuals can significantly affect the outcomes - before the distributed consensus of the market takes over and forces us down some ugly path. In this case, as long as Musk is spearheading this development, perhaps we should get Nick Bostrom to write a pop-philosophy book specifically about merging the mind and the machine? Musk is pretty receptive to Bostrom's ideas.

Plenty of people here on HN will jump at the opportunity to have Apple control what they are allowed to think/view/experience. They already do this and passionately argue they love it.

“We have been subordinate to our limitations until now. The time has come to cast aside these bonds and to elevate our consciousness to a higher plane. It is time to become a part of all things.”

-Puppet Master

And yet this technology may give some people their humanity.

You might find the Multireal trilogy by Davis Louis Edelman interesting: https://www.amazon.com/Infoquake-Jump-225-Trilogy-v/dp/15910...

Not the best writing in the world but several of these ideas are touched upon before it kinda goes off the deep end. A fun read at least.

I actually like the idea, that the brain could start to hack itself. It changes its own premise. Feels loopy too!

If the apps are going to be controlled on the smartphone as Elon mentioned, forget free software for now. Apple and Google are ready to take their 30% cut

Can you observe and control what gets into your brain right now?

To a degree. And at least I don't have a physical corporate device implanted in my brain.

we can hardly observe running code on computers, even when we have the source. Programmers have trouble understanding what their own code is doing!

If you don't want proprietary software in your head, don't install it in your head. Why do you need the UN to stop you from doing that to yourself?

It's naive to think this will be optional for long once it's viable.

Oh you have X,Y,Z mental illness? Treatment from or inclusion in society is contingent upon getting this chip installed.

Want this job? Even if it doesn't get to the level of "all employees need to be running OurCorp Headware (tm)", being required to be running Microsoft Headwindows in order to get a job with medical benefits seems ominously plausible.

Want to use the neuraIM to talk with family and friends? I know you'd prefer a FLOSS nIRC client, but everyone you know is already on WhatsBrain.

Let alone forcibly installing such a chip as "for the persons own good". Or more likely "to stop terrorists" due to needing an excuse.

That's almost definitely going to happen. If the tech were available today we'd probably be hearing disturbing leaks of forced chip installation in people heads in various countries already. :(

We can’t even get people to wear masks in the middle of a fucking pandemic. Do you really think this is a likely and universalizable scenario?

That's a minority of people and they are chastised for it. The vast majority of people DO wear a mask. So yes, this is REALLY a likely an realizable scenario.

seeing as people can get fired for not wearing a mask, this can also be a stipulation for employment. install or starve, citizen.

Tell that to the children whose parents will opt for the neural implant after birth.

What if your employer asks for it?

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