Scientists discover thought control
Saturday, September 6, 2008
 |
A recent New York Times article highlighted similarities between how the brain functions when a person experiences an event, and how it will act while remembering that same event. Scientists can even predict which memory a person will recall based on which neurons fire when the event occurred. For example, if a person were shown a brief clip from a TV show and asked a few minutes later to remember what they saw, the same parts of the brain become active, and during recall those areas light up a full second before the answer comes to the surface.
What this means is that a theory that had long been accepted is now, at least in part, verified: There is little difference in brain function between something happening and remembering it later.
Taking this much further than the scientific community would allow, it also means that your own brain could be used against you.
Picture this: It’s 2021. McCain was elected and re-elected, but dies in 2013. Sarah Palin rides out his second term, and is elected President in 2016 and again in 2020. President Palin has heard about a new device that can be embedded into your scalp that can identify who you are, where you are, your finances, your medical records, etc. It’s hailed as the savior of humanity: no more credit cards and no more missing children. It’s passed by a Republican majority congress and signed into law. Everyone is on the grid.
It also serves another function – in the interest of national security, of course – which is even more complex. It can record your brain waves.
It’s seen as logical, for now a doctor can pinpoint the moment a patient suffered a stroke and provide treatment accordingly instead of wasting time attempting to figure out what went wrong.
Since this data is recorded via satellite and being stored somewhere deep beneath the Kentucky, it can also tell which areas of your brain lit up and at what times.
Now this doesn’t mean they can tell exactly what you’re doing, as everyone’s brain would react differently to similar situations. But it does mean they can bring you in for questioning in regards to, say, the looting of a store during a natural disaster. And during that questioning, they may ask you to focus on what you were doing on a certain date. They might try to jog your memory against your will using visual or aural cues, such as describing the weather at the time of the incident, or reminding you of the sound of traffic on a nearby street. Your brain lights up, they compare it to your data from the day in question, and bingo. You’re cooked.
‘So,’ you say, ‘that’s what they have lie detectors for, right?’ Sort of.
Imagine law enforcement is trying to solve a murder. A really tough one, a cold case if you will. Then imagine they tap into their database and, using the information from the victim’s implant, nail down exactly when the crime occurred. Filtering through everyone in the region, they check if there is a particularly high level of neuron activity in any one person at that exact time. They limit it down to 40 or 50 people, narrow it down some more, and come up with a suspect. Case closed.
Getting cocky, the administration starts detailing how a person’s brain looks while under the influence of marijuana. No more hippies.
Then they see how it behaves while dreaming fantastical scenarios of overthrowing the government in a hail of rainbows, flowers and yellow smiley faces. Later, anarchists!
Finally, they figure out what happens when someone thinks an impure thought, or disagrees while watching a speech given by the president. Arrivederci, dissenters!
So we can see what the most significant aspect of this newest scientific discovery is, and it’s not finding new ways to treat Alzheimer’s patients or those who’ve suffered a stroke. It’s the fact that the US is only a decade away from spying on all of us at the same time all the time for no reason.
But I suppose it’s important that we don’t allow the terrorists to force us into living in fear. As Dwight Schrute once said, “Better a thousand innocent men locked up then one guilty man roam free.” Well put, sir. Let freedom ring.
Comment
Commenting is closed for this article.
