Intel Core Duo Processing and Your Memories

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While driving to work this morning, I listened to an interesting story about “The Bionic Brain”. First in a rat, now Intel is trying to have a brain implant on the consumer market by 2020.

What I’m talking about is a brain microchip- like the one in your phone or computer- that would help memory function.

This technology is crazy and it really makes me wonder about the consequences of what might happen when people start “upgrading” their brains in mass. Would it be illegal to be a professional athlete if you could better retain training regimens or strategy? What about how having more memory would affect getting a job or getting into college?

If this becomes a popular science and people start using it in their everyday life, doesn’t that make even more of a gap between those who already get ahead in life by being in a higher socio-economic class from those who are poor?

While the main focus of this science is to help aid in the recovery of traumatic brain injuries, and people suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s, it really makes me consider what comes next.

I know I could personally benefit from having a chip that pulls power away from my Limbic system so that I can be more in control over my emotional response to things. But how much control would you really have over something like this? And in recent years hasn’t the world seen an increase in technologies failures that result in bigger and more devastating disasters (think nuclear plants in Japan)?

What happens in your brain if this chip fails? Or what happens if it starts recording the “wrong memories”. We’ve all had those weird, frightening, strange dreams that leave us in a state of confusion and haze the next morning (also known as a dream hangover) that sometimes stay with us for hours. I sure as hell don’t want those memories being recorded by a chip and replayed by some random trigger that I come across as I go through day to day life. I’ll speak from personal experience for a minute, I’ve had close calls on the race track, and some have had horrifying accidents. It already takes even the best driver at least a lap or two to get back to where they were before the incident. Think of how hard it would be if your brain chip remembered it. I see many “pro driver” types running around asking to be saved by Jewish God and Oprah Winifred.

Oh and for all those professional criminals out there, wouldn’t it suck if the police could use a mini-sd cable, plug it into your ear and have all the dirty details about the “supposed” disappearance of a large sum of money from said bank.

Think about it…