Would you put a computer interface in your head.

[Shinytop]

Mercutio, your post is interesting but fails to note that one is purely fiction and the other reality. Maybe you can put your point in plain English.

Do we need to be careful how far we let implants go? Well Duh. Do we need to be very careful regarding access to and from our minds? Well duh, duh. That does not mean we should stop any developments in this discipline any more that we should stop research into cloning or stem cells. Oh, wait. I guess no opposition to science is too far fetched.

 

[Soapy Sam]

The idea of squaddies with implants is about as immoral as anything I've heard. I think I would fight any culture which saw that as appropriate behaviour.
Artificial Military Intelligence coupled to a nineteen year old recruit who joined the army because he wanted to see the world and was to dumb to be a tourist. This is not a happy thought.

When the IQ of the smart weapon is higher than that of the ape carrying it, we have a serious conflict of interest.

Anyone remember The warrior Belhap Roo Cononson or whatever in Larry Niven's story "Not long Before the End"?- The magical sword he carried was actually a demon with it's teeth locked in his hand. He was too stupid to realise that, even after he noticed that he could no longer put it down.

And hey, I know there are some smart folk who choose to be soldiers for their own reasons;- Heinlein's ideal "Citizen Soldiers". Kudos to them. Sorry to be derogatory.
No way are they the average.

Do we want to live in a country that puts control circuitry in a soldier's head? The memes they put in there are bad enough.

This is disgusting.

 

[Shinytop]

You seem to be awful condemning without much thought. An implant that would allow the soldier a higher chance of living would not be automatically immoral. An implant does not have to take over the mind of the soldier, yet you seem to think that is the goal of implants.

I would recommend you remove your head from your nether regions and be ready to fight implants that are evil but you really should consider each on its own merits.

Oh, and your apparent disdain for the military is pretty unfounded. The military reflects the average citizen in almost every respect. Your disdain belittles yourself, not the military man.

 

[Cinorjer]

You seem to be awful condemning without much thought. An implant that would allow the soldier a higher chance of living would not be automatically immoral. An implant does not have to take over the mind of the soldier, yet you seem to think that is the goal of implants.

For myself, I spent many years in the military, and I as well as the people I worked with knew when we joined that if it came to fighting, our health and lives were secondary to winning the war. That was the cold, hard fact. Our only comfort was knowing the military had a vested interest in keeping as many of us as possible alive and healthy to fight the next battle.

But many of us also came to realize that the "brains" at the Pentagon saw us not as people who would have lives after service, but expendible units that could be discarded when damaged. Consider, the medical care for veterans is a joke. Today people are being discharged while still in an overseas hospital after being wounded in Iraq, then told since they are no longer active duty, the government won't pay for their family to visit. After being sent home, they then must wait many months for even an initial appointment at an overcrowded and underfunded veterans hospital.

All this is to say, don't trust the government to even consider the health and safety of the soldier when it comes to something like implanting a chip in the brain. The human body has limits, and the entire purpose of "enhanced performance" technology is to push this body past the limits for short-term goals. Given the track record of the brains behind the military machine, it is wise to question what possible use will be made of intrusive technology like this.

 

[Prester John]

Yeah baby Yeah !!!!

 

[sorgoth]

If it could control me in any way, no.

If it was just to give me access to music and internet anytime...well, maybe.

 

[Crossbow]

This may seem to be a silly question but a time will come when it will be true.

With the growth of technology, in time there will be a device you can connect to your brain, that will interface with computer systems.( wireless).

Would you feel less human. Replacing an arm or leg with machines is one thing but the human mind is different.

Would the fear of mind control stop you?
Or the fear of turning into a Borg (Star trek), being a slave to technology.

Would you have cell phone installed under the skin. They are getting small enough, in a few years it will be an option.

Being a computer geek I have mixed feeling about it.

No way in b*tt f***ing h**l would I ever do such a thing.

First, doing so would entail the use of some sort of Server that could host all of these wireless, personal chips, therefore any personal on-line usage, uploads, downloads, etc. would be constantly monitored and recorded. Can you imagine what some hype-aggressive prosecuting attorney (John Ashcroft, for example) would do with such data?

Second, I have so far, successfully avoided the cell phone and pager, however my desk phone still rings several times every day, my daily e-mail volume has been steadily increasing for the past few years, and of course I can hardly do one service call without getting dragged off to handle at least three others. Dealing with all this input is bad enough, so I see no point in further adding to it because everyone will soon figure out that a person with such a chip will mean that these people can be contacted at anyplace and at anytime. Yuck!

No thanks, but you can give that gizmo to the Borg wannabes.

 

[scribble]

I've already got one, and i'm serious. My eyes, ears, hands, and arms all are an interface layer between my brain and my computer. Much like the device you propose, I cannot access the computer without my interface, and I am powerless to disable my interface or disconnect myself from it.

I don't see it as a problem.

-Chris