Early studies
Various companies have been researching this technology for years. In 2007, Microsoft wanted to evaluate the way people interact with their computers. They began research on using electroencephalograms (EEG’s) to record the electrical signals of a person user while they were using a computer. Microsoft is still currently doing research on the matter. In 2009, Toyota unveiled their idea for a ‘mind reading’ wheelchair. The chair was designed to help the handicapped or elderly get around more freely and be more active member of society. To make this happen, they want to use signals from the brain to read the desired actions of the user and have the wheelchair automatically perform those actions. This would greatly help those who are without the use of their arms or legs. More recently, independent researchers announced the prototype of a new mind reading helmet for pilots. The helmet would be designed to give researchers constant feedback on pilots ‘in flight’ condition and look for warning signs for such things excessive stress, and sleepiness.
On February 1st, 2012, the science and technology website, Technewsworld.com, released an article originally printed in PLoS Biology, involving further breakthrough in mind reading research. A team of researchers at the University of California at Berkeley had the idea of using mind reading technology in the fields of medicine and psychology. Through their trials, the neuroscientists at Berkeley have succeeded in decoding and reconstructing subjects dynamic visual experiences. In the early research, they were able to use a complex formula to capture, and piece together different sections of a person’s memory. One scientist likened it to viewing trailers to a bunch of diff...
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...n who should be scanned, and when. It could create some legal dramas as well. Can having your mind read be used against you in court? Will fMRI machines be trustworthy if used as a lie detector? Wolpe predicts that the Supreme Court will have the final say in these and other matters.
Works Cited
Grosh, Loren. “Modern Day Telepathy?. Scientists develop method for reconstructing thoughts.” Fox News. February 1, 2012. www.foxnews.com/health
Adhikari, Richard. “Mind-Reading Tech. May Give Speechless a New Voice.” Tech News World. February 1, 2012. www.TechNewsWorld.com/story/74326
Anwar, Yasmin. “Scientists Use Brain Imaging to Reveal the Movies in our Mind.” UC Berkeley Newscenter. September 22, 2011. www.newscenter.berkeley.edu
King, Rhianna. “Breakthrough in Mind-Reading Technology.” WA Today. February 1, 2012. www.optuszoo.com.au/news/state/wa-today
The growing presence of technology is going to become more and more prevalent in the future as technology continues to evolve. If Carr is right, then we are going to see the continuous deterioration of critical thinking skills in future generations. However, we may also see a rise in more technological advances that will help society function better. Overall, this book was mainly concerned with the effects that new information and communication technologies will have on the brain.
Using technology can have certain effects on the brain. Nicholas Carr’s magazine blog, “The Web Shatters Focus, Rewrites Brains,” tells us an experiment from a ULCA professor, Gary Small. Gary Small
In Nicholas Carr’s, The Shallows, he writes, “Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory.”(Shallows). That is what technology has done to all of us over the years. It has shaped the way we look at articles and the way we choose to read.
Cacioppo, J. T., & Freberg, L. A. (2012). Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind:
Jayson, Sharon. "Technology Can Push Our Crazy Buttons, Rewire Brains." USA Today [New York] 26 Mar 2012, n. pag. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
What if someone told you the devices you were using everyday were rewiring your brain? Would you believe them? In the article Is Google Making Us Stupid? author Nicholas Carr brought up the topic of Google, and the internet, affecting the way we read and think. Carr opened up the article by relating his topic to a scene from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The scene is one where a man is disconnecting a robot from its artificial “brain”. The robot says that he can feel his mind going. Carr then relates to the robot’s statement, saying that he can feel it, too. He states that the internet has been remapping his, and everyone 's, brain. Such a bold statement about something that almost everyone uses on a daily basis. For someone to state that
Perina, Kaja. "Brain scans may be foolproof lie detectors. (Truth Serum)." Psychology Today Jan.-Feb. 2002: \. Student Resources in Context. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Bem, D. J., & Honorton, C. (1994). Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer. Psychological Bulletin , 115 (1), 4-18.
Perry, Bruce, 1999. ECT Interview: Bruce Perry Discusses the Effects of Technology on the Brain.
The documentary, “Amazing Secrets About the Human Brain” presented by the History Channel, explains how the brain works to people with little to no academic knowledge on the subject. The brain is “the most complicated device” humans have found, so it is certainly a topic of interest to many. In the past few years, knowledge of the brain has grown significantly. The documentary’s goal is to describe the complexity of the brain and how it influences various human behaviors, such as fear, sexual arousal, sports performance, and psychic mediums. With a minor shortcoming, the documentary does a sufficient job of introducing the complexity and workings of the brain to people with little knowledge of the topic.
Wilson, R. A. (1990). Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You & Your World. Tempe: New Falcon.
Thomas, David. "The Mind Of Man." The Presence of Others 3rd Edition. Bedford/St. Martins, New York. (2000) : 120-25.
Gardner, H. The Mind's New Science: A History of Cognitive Revolution. New York, Basic Books, 1987.
Quantum computing is the first step into all technologies of the future. It involves using electric patterns in the brain to control electronics. A twenty-six-year-old quadriplegic has an implant the size of an aspirin sitting on the top of his brain that allows him to play simple video games, control a robotic arm, and even turn on and off a TV. By 2012 cyber kinetic chips could be able to process thoughts as fast as speech (Taylor). The transition eventually will be made from implants to headbands with unimaginable power. With this headband “Any kind of information is available anytime [a user wants]it, simply speak a question or even think it. [Once connected, a person]will always be connected wirelessly to the network, and an answer will return from a vast collectively-prodeuced data matrix. Google queries will seem quaint”(Kirkpatrick). With this breakthrough, the necessity to learn languages may disappear (Kirkpatrick). The biggest step is “network e...
Blakslee, S. (1993, August 31). The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from www.nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/31/science/seeing-and-imagining-clues-to-the-workings-of-the-mind-s-eye.html