• NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Imagine spending your time, money, and resource on fancy thought chips instead of actually working to cure the disease bcz you think a brain chip is worth more money.

    • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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      7 months ago

      …working on the “thought chips” are working on a cure. Or a workaround for the handicap, at least.

      Would you accuse the guy who invented the wheelchair of wasting their time on a fancy mobile lay-z-boy instead of “working on a cure”?

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        No, I just know how people like Elon Musk think. He thought this was a better investment than research to cure this. I mean, if you haven’t figured it out yet, which it seems like you haven’t, they are using this guy as a PR stunt for the product.

        There was no intention or aim of improving the life of quadriplegic people with this.

        It’s purely a means to an end for Elon Musk. And quiet frankly, people should be scared shitless of having these things inside their head.

        But, it’s a feel good story, so people don’t see the wider implications of the device.

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Irrelevant, cochlear implants don’t require them to crack open your skull in a major surgery that can kill you.

        • testfactor@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          So you would be fine with them “spending the money on developing fancy thought chips instead of a cure” if the implant had similar complications/survivability rates as cochlear implants?

          And cochlear surgery, while quite safe, isn’t exactly the most minor surgery. They’re going pretty deep into your head to put that stimulator gizmo on your auditory nerve behind your inner ear.

          • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            No, this technology is bad news. Have billionaires and governments ever shown themselves to behave ethically and in the best interest of anybody but themselves ever?

            This is basically the internet of things, except inside your head. The security implications alone should be enough to not want this.

            But, that’s my bad, it’s on me for thinking people are on average smart enough to see a problem before it becomes one. It’s been too long since the pandemic, I’m starting to forget how stupid the population actually is.

            • testfactor@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Look man, you seem to be buying into the boogy-man of people just getting these implanted on a whim. That’s not the use case, and probably won’t be in the next 50-100yrs.

              This is a technology specifically for people with hugely debilitating conditions. People who can’t move or talk, and have to communicate with eye movements.

              You can talk all you want about how dangerous this technology is, and you’re right. It potentially could be. You know what else that’s true for? Pacemakers. Pacemakers are hugely invasive to put in, and have proven vulnerable to Bluetooth attacks over and over and over again. It’s trivially easy to hack someones pacemaker and potentially kill them. It’s an IoT device implant through and through. And you know what no one is advocating against having? Pacemakers. Because without them people would just die instead.

              This is the same thing. Are there dangers? Absolutely. You know who doesn’t care? The person who literally takes 20min to type out “Hello” on an eye tracker keyboard. This tech is game changing for them. It gives them the ability to interact with the world far beyond any other measure we have today. And I don’t think it takes much empathy to realize that maybe that makes it worth investing in.