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Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

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Re: Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

#41

Post by Houshalter »

captainmuon wrote: post #27
xxSparkleSxx wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a thought that's been floating around in my head for too long and probably doesn't exactly fit here but oh well. Isn't language a bit of a proxy for what we are actually trying to communicate? As in the statement "Yesterday, I saw a yellow bus" the are millions of shades of yellow, different bus styles, and of course different times of day and different scenery in which you could have seen that bus. Is it pos…

I would guess the internal representations are too different. Maybe some are inherited, but most develop over the course of your life. You can think of it as MS Word vs. Libreoffice Writer. You don't get better interoperability by letting an app access the other app's memory, whcih is a crazy historically grown representation of memory-mapped structs. And by accessing this private structure (and say memcpy'ing extern…

It's theoretically possible to reconstruct exact images of objects you are imagining. You could just show them an image of the yellow bus you saw. I wonder how communication would evolve with such an ability.

Re: Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

#42

Post by booleandilemma »

EGreg wrote: post #18
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #2

If you were offered the chance to become as intelligent as Feynman but only if you turn over a copy of all your future thoughts to the private business that made this possible, would you take it? Something non-invasive, like a computer that images your brain while you sleep. If we are machines, then it seems reasonable that within a few millennia we might have this capability. I'm trying to think up some scenarios wh…

A more interesting question is, what if you wake up one day as one of 10 copies of yourself? Would you today be worried about preserving the life of all 10 clones (with memories)? We are all afraid to die - but what if tomorrow there were clones with the memories you have today? The question basically is posed here http://existentialcomics.com/comic/1

The movie The Prestige deals with the concept of self copies too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prestige_(film)

Re: Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

#44

Post by booleandilemma »

mywittyname wrote: post #21
jahabrewer wrote: post #3

> when people read aloud or read silently to themselves the neural signal in the superior temporal gyrus can be used to reconstruct the words How long until counter-interrogation techniques include not even thinking about what you want to conceal?

Probably more like thought-lie training: intentionally mis-remembering the details the interrogator is trying to extract.

"It's not a lie if you believe it" - George Constanza

Re: Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

#45

Post by mfoy_ »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #2

If you were offered the chance to become as intelligent as Feynman but only if you turn over a copy of all your future thoughts to the private business that made this possible, would you take it? Something non-invasive, like a computer that images your brain while you sleep. If we are machines, then it seems reasonable that within a few millennia we might have this capability. I'm trying to think up some scenarios wh…

The Gentle Seduction is a short story that you might find interesting.

http://www.skyhunter.com/marcs/GentleSeduction.html

Re: Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

#46

Post by scarmig »

captainmuon wrote: post #27
xxSparkleSxx wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a thought that's been floating around in my head for too long and probably doesn't exactly fit here but oh well. Isn't language a bit of a proxy for what we are actually trying to communicate? As in the statement "Yesterday, I saw a yellow bus" the are millions of shades of yellow, different bus styles, and of course different times of day and different scenery in which you could have seen that bus. Is it pos…

I would guess the internal representations are too different. Maybe some are inherited, but most develop over the course of your life. You can think of it as MS Word vs. Libreoffice Writer. You don't get better interoperability by letting an app access the other app's memory, whcih is a crazy historically grown representation of memory-mapped structs. And by accessing this private structure (and say memcpy'ing extern…

But even exposing a brain to a visual or auditory input is letting an external environment inject random information into your brain, and that's not the kind of mental security vulnerability we worry about. Snow Crash notwithstanding.

Re: Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

#47

Post by bmc7505 »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #2

If you were offered the chance to become as intelligent as Feynman but only if you turn over a copy of all your future thoughts to the private business that made this possible, would you take it? Something non-invasive, like a computer that images your brain while you sleep. If we are machines, then it seems reasonable that within a few millennia we might have this capability. I'm trying to think up some scenarios wh…

What troubles me is not the permission to read, but to write. While potentially useful for a host of medical applications, this is a scientifically plausible proposal to create technology that will literally have the ability to control minds. While you might be comfortable with sharing intellectual property with a business entity, giving that same entity the ability to adjust internal motivation, or alter sensory input is a dangerous Faustian bargain. How much would you trade for free will?

Re: Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

#48

Post by lwansbrough »

This is hard, but perhaps even harder than you might think. I read an extremely long exploration of this concept a couple weeks ago. It's a layman explanation but it really does a great job of outlining the real complications of such a device. Here's the article: https://waitbutwhy.com/2017/04/neuralink.html

One takeaway that gives you the sense of scale: there are at least 40,000 neurons in 1mm^3 of the cerebral cortex. Those 40,000 neurons create around 20,000,000 synapses. You have to create a sensor that can capture a reasonable portion of those synapses to understand what's going on in that tiny section of the cortex.

Re: Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

#49

Post by ihaveahadron »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #2

If you were offered the chance to become as intelligent as Feynman but only if you turn over a copy of all your future thoughts to the private business that made this possible, would you take it? Something non-invasive, like a computer that images your brain while you sleep. If we are machines, then it seems reasonable that within a few millennia we might have this capability. I'm trying to think up some scenarios wh…

Somebody needs to figure out why these people keep thinking a clone of you is you. It keeps happening over and over again. What kind of primate shit is this that won't fucking go away.

Re: Darpa Wants Brain Implants That Record from 1M Neurons

#50

Post by AndrewKemendo »

captainmuon wrote: post #20
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #2

If you were offered the chance to become as intelligent as Feynman but only if you turn over a copy of all your future thoughts to the private business that made this possible, would you take it? Something non-invasive, like a computer that images your brain while you sleep. If we are machines, then it seems reasonable that within a few millennia we might have this capability. I'm trying to think up some scenarios wh…

I think we should really fix society before we develop that kind of technology. We need a socio-cultural breaktrough of the same magnitude as the technological breakthrough. Something on par with the development of monotheism, enlightenment, capitalism, or democracy. A "communistic" utopia (for lack of a better word) without the flaws of its historical implementations. Then the question is moot. There is no private b…

You've got it backwards. Our brains are what is holding society back.

We need a socio-cultural breaktrough of the same magnitude as the technological breakthrough

That's what transhumanism is. It's a restructuring of the human system around symbiosis with AI.

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