The following information was posted by a LinkedIn colleague, Darryl Warren just a few days ago. It should give every Braintenance Mind Builder great pause for thought (pun intended) in terms of short-cutting the long path to mastery:
Study of the Day: Soon, You May Download New Skills to Your Brain theatlantic.com New research suggests it may be possible to learn complex tasks with little to no conscious effort, just like in The Matrix. Whoa, indeed. [read entire article]. ---------------
I will be using the term "jellyware,"
as opposed to hardware or software, to describe the Human brain
throughout this article. The mechanism for physically placing or
implanting information into the brain (we used to call this "learning,"
but here there the term "programming" is much more readily suitable)
without speaking of the exact engineering and anatomical specifications
of this type of operation would be either be via program inserted into
the appropriate area/s of the brain, or via download from the cloud
inserted into the appropriate area of the brain.
I
like the idea of accelerated and high-efficiency learning, whether by
entrainment, subliminal programming, hypnotherapy, NLP, experience and Braintenance exercises,
but this radical new “instant” programming approach raises some issues
that are worth thinking about, and ultimately addressing.
1) This will require a very fine and precise mapping (science is not quite there yet) of each of the appropriate learning centers and knowledge repositories for each type of programming. What if several different loci within the jelly ware are required for the full comprehension and application of a downloaded program?
2) Will this type of programming cause any type of atrophy of the physical brain, and its counterpart, the mind, due to the infusion of programming without certain learning exercises proven to increase cognitive ability, plasticity and creativity? Will our ability to learn through experience, interaction, the creation and strengthening of neurological connections, and association (pattern recognition, generalization, modification and appropriate reaction) be compromised?
3) What if either flawed or conflicting programs are downloaded into our personal jellyware? What might the effects be? Can an implanted virus (whether deliberately programmed-in or accidentally downloaded) destroy both our personal jellyware and our physical bodies?
4) Will the notion of “free will” apply to the removal or debugging of programming once it has been plugged in to our jellyware?
5)
What if the programming of our jellyware does not take into account our
potential physical limitations? We could be programmed to do perform
actions that could injure or kill us -- would there be a physiological
feedback mechanism to tell our newly programmed minds that a running
program must be terminated before it destroys the body? We cannot forget
that a great deal of learning requires feedback and adjustment between
both mind and body.
6) By what mechanism would we A) know when it was time to upgrade or replace an implanted program, and B) be able to acquire the new program, upgrade or patch?
7) What might be the emotional, behavioral and physiological consequences of implanting programming into an individual who:
- was emotionally immature;
- was emotionally or psychiatrically unstable;
- was physically incapable of bodily perform what the mind programming demanded of him?
8)
Could this programming create dangerous dependencies or co-dependencies
where we could lose our identities and begin to function robotically,
or as a “hive mind”?
9)
A program is only as good as the intentions and abilities of the being
(Human or robot) which programmed it. How do we pre-test the implantable
software or programming for trojan horses, hidden controls and commands
prior to utilizing it?
I believe that the above issues should be seriously studied, peer-reviewed and tested repeatedly prior to beloved Braintenancer
or other Human Being be subjected to this accelerated mind
modification. The mind is perhaps the final frontier of many sciences,
and it must be much better understood before we tamper with it.
Ironically, our understanding of the precise functioning of the Human
Brain and Mind is far behind our understanding of computers, devices,
programs and applications. There will be much catching up to be done, as
this type of learning leap represents both revolution and evolution.
This material is certainly (pun intended) food for thought.
Thank you, as always for reading me and for sharing my articles with your social media contacts.
Douglas E. Castle for The Braintenance Blog, The Global Futurist Blog and The Internationalist Page Blog
Sponsored by:
ICS - International Connection Services
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