Week 3 Readings: Mind Control & the Internet

This article largely focuses on the pace in which living beings are evolving in comparison to technological developments. Halpern states "There is no Moore's Law for human beings", I understood this as an analysis of humanities overall understanding of technology as it progresses. People are less likely to examine the finer functions of programming such as how a web search engine finds pages relating to a query. This lack of curiousity but heavy reliance on technology could result in cybernetic implanting to become commonplace among the greater population; a practice currently reserved for medical treatments.

I brought up some questions in class:

What (if any) cybernetic implants would you consider regardless of medical needs, and if you needed an implant for medical purposes would you research that specific technology to understand how works?

If you had an opportunity to receive cybernetic implants regardless of your medical condition would you research your decision any further than if you were buying a phone?

The response was largely against implanting without research was not wanted. A class member made a point that many people would accept a Blackberry as an implant regardless of consequences.

Halpern, Sue (2011) 'Mind Control & the Internet', New York Review of Books, June 23.