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Neuralink 'Participant 1' says his life has changed

fortune.com

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Re: Neuralink 'Participant 1' says his life has changed

#51

Post by xg15 »

germinalphrase wrote: post #39
xg15 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Divisive is an understatement. If this tech could be made to work flawlessly, it would be the gate to all the SciFi cyborg stuff, including body enhancements, "telepathy", etc. Also, as a "side effect", it would open a path to fully immersive VR, as in Matrix, Snow Crash, Neuromancer, etc - with all the upsides and downsides of those scenarios. All that "just" from hooking up motor and sensor neurons. And then people…

The dystopian downside is significant. It is not difficult to come up with half a dozen horrific outcomes of this technology.

Indeed it is. I think the tech is enormously exciting, but the ways in which both ordinary people and people in power could abuse it, are obvious.

I also don't trust the current brand of tech billionaires to handle this stuff responsibly - if they aren't specifically aiming for those dystopian scenarios even.

Based on all of Musk's past behavior, he doesn't exactly strike me as a guy who would deeply care for the disabled or make it his life's mission to cure spinal cord injuries - or even to grant super powers with no strings attached to the average person.

But he does seem like the kind of person who obsesses about the "next stage of evolution of the human race"...

Re: Neuralink 'Participant 1' says his life has changed

#53

Post by mwigdahl »

jauzeyimam wrote: post #25
cromulent wrote: post #9

Friends with Parkinson's with neural implants anecdotally report great results, but of course with rather coarse tech. There seems to be lots of future potential. https://www.parkinson.org/living-with-parkinsons/treatment/s...

My brother has had YOPD since his late 20s. He got DBS done about 3 years ago, and it was life changing. Not only in the symptom reduction (tremors and rigidity significantly reduced -- he walked straight for the first time in years, could button his shirts again, etc), but also in lifestyle improvements around the amount and frequency of medication, the ability to sleep properly (several side effects of both PD and…

My daughter has DBS for severe Tourette's. Her quality of life before the implant was horrible -- frequent 110 dB+ screams and self-injury. The implant has reduced her tic frequency and intensity by easily 95%. It's not only given her her life back but also the lives of her family members.

The potential of brain interface technology is truly incredible -- both for good and ill.

Re: Neuralink 'Participant 1' says his life has changed

#54

Post by nerevarthelame »

db48x wrote: post #30
micromacrofoot wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so are people who claim placebos and homeopathy improved their conditions, we are not reliable on an individual level

Placebos only effect subjective outcomes, not objective ones.

That's not categorically true. Although a placebo inherently relies on a patient's subjective understanding of receiving a treatment, that understanding can change any number of very objective outcomes. That's why so many studies that measure objective metrics use placebos to begin with.

Re: Neuralink 'Participant 1' says his life has changed

#55

Post by zdragnar »

pear01 wrote: post #43
zdragnar wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No placebo can let him "do things like play Mario Kart, control his television, and turn his Dyson air purifier on and off without physically moving his fingers or any other part of his body." Given that there are objective changes, it is not unreasonable to believe his claim that he is satisfied or has benefitted from them.

if it is truly "objective" then his subjective experience is irrelevant, so your logic makes no sense. it is not necessarily incorrect to investigate or be skeptical about another's self reported "subjective" claims (never mind their "objective" ones), for the reasons the comment you were dismissive of mentioned. plus given the nature of the company one would hardly be surprised if certain facts are cherry-picked ove…

The objective and subjective observations are about different but related things.

The objective measurements are about his enhanced abilities. He can do things he couldn't before.

But, the GP comment referred to "quality of life" which is innately difficult to measure objectively. It's possible that he was able to do those things but it caused him enough irritation to do them that he avoided using it (like CPAP often is for example), or that the things it enabled him to do weren't sufficient to warrant feeling improved. My father has limited mobility, but no interest in playing mario kart or adjusting an air filter, and there's very little in his home that he has or would want to be automated. Anything that could be my mom or another family member usually takes care of anyway, even if it's still something he could do himself as he's rather tech illiterate.

So, in this scenario, given my father's age, the risks involved in such a major surgery for his age, and his personal inclinations, the very same additional capabilities likely wouldn't be worthwhile in his opinion. Hence, the subjective experience of the objective changes are how you measure quality of life for this kind of operation.

Re: Neuralink 'Participant 1' says his life has changed

#56

Post by pear01 »

y-curious wrote: post #36
micromacrofoot wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so are people who claim placebos and homeopathy improved their conditions, we are not reliable on an individual level

You are right when it comes to qualia, but wholly incorrect in this case. There are measurable metrics in his life (ie independent use of computers, social engagements etc.) It's not like he's having to rate his level of happiness here, these are physical benefits

if that's the case why do you care to read about his subjective experience, at all? isn't that the point of the comment inquiring about an independent review?

Re: Neuralink 'Participant 1' says his life has changed

#57

Post by mritterhoff »

drdaeman wrote: post #31
mritterhoff wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I'm not sure whenever it's a good idea to cheer for lack of life-changing technical progress just because it's ran by a company governed by an ethically problematic person. The person is temporary, the progress is permanent.

I'm mostly cheering for more competition in the field. No reason for advances in life-changing technical progress to belong solely to that one company.

Re: Neuralink 'Participant 1' says his life has changed

#58

Post by qualeed »

shkkmo wrote: post #49
pessimizer wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What kind of reprobate thinks it is OK to swat a disabled person? Do you understand the kinds of active harm that your partisanship causes? What are you talking about? Are you pretending to be upset at a mild question, on the behalf of the disabled? You should explain the active harm this causes, because your partisan celebrity worship is causing you to look goofy in front of strangers. edit: I am very excited abou…

> You should explain the active harm this causes, because your partisan celebrity worship is causing you to look goofy in front of strangers. I explained the active harm in the very sentence you quoted. >> he told me that a SWAT team showed up with AR-15s after someone gave a false tip to the local sheriff’s office that Arbaugh was in danger. I'm not a big fan of Musk for a number of different reasons. I'm even less…

>I'd rather look like a goof (nothing wrong with being goofy or weird sometimes) than help spread hatred.

No one in this thread is helping "spread hatred".

Re: Neuralink 'Participant 1' says his life has changed

#60

Post by fourseventy »

mritterhoff wrote: post #18
SilverElfin wrote: post #15

Neuralink is amazing technology and watching videos of participants who have completely different abilities and freedom with Neuralink implants is mind blowing. It’s sad that many want to dismiss these amazing achievements just because it’s an Elon Musk founded company. At some point you simply have to acknowledge his success (and his team’s), and hope they get further with all of this. For those interested in their…

[flagged]

For someone with a supreme lack of judgement he sure does own a lot of billion dollar companies. I strive to have the same lack of judgement that he has.
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