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Bioethicist Jonathan Moreno Talks Jacked-In Soldiers And Military Neuroscience
pigrabbitbear writes "Who's driving a lot of neuro research? The military. Much of it is health related, like figuring out how to make prosthetics work more seamlessly and helping diagnose brain injuries. But the military's involvement highlights the basic ethical quandary of neurological development: When our brains pretty much define who we are, what happens when you start adding tech in there? And what happens when you take it away? Jonathan Moreno is quite possibly the top bioethicist in the country, and along with Michael Tennison, recently penned a fascinating essay on the role and ethics of using neuroscience for national security. He also recently updated his book Mind Wars, a seminal look into the military's work with the brain. In this interview he discusses brain implants, drones, and what will happen when military tech hits the civilian world."
Cyberpsychosis - Cyberpunk, the Game (1989) http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/edgerunners/wikis/cyberpsychosis
Caffeine affects our brain in a non-trivial way. If we're hungry, we behave differently. So food affects our brain in a non-trivial way. How is ingesting caffeine and food different than adding hardware to our brain?
Oh, I don't know... watch:
Soldiers
Surrogates
Star Trek: First Contact (imo best modern ST film)
Ghost in the Shell
and any other sci-fi flick
Previewing comments are for sissies!
What sort of selection process is used to determine who is the 'top' bioethicist? Anyone at all can consider the ethical implications of brain implants.
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This reminds me of Life Support, especiallt about your brain defining who you are. That episode was a perfect illustration of this topic. (The linked synopsis isn't very good, I'm afraid).
Free Martian Whores!
While telekinesis doesn't exist in the real world, I wonder if an implant or headband could transmit core emotional responses to the rest of your platoon via wireless link. That is to say, you wouldn't be able to transmit exact words but rather basic core primitive thoughts and emotions. If one of your members are in danger or senses a major problem, everyone could be aware of the situation simultaneously without a single word spoken on the battlefield.
Life is not for the lazy.
Supersoldiers /tinfoil hat
As it is now, the greatest tool(weapon) we have lies between our ears, more powerful than the fastest jets and the biggest bombs, and anything that improves it to perform certain tasks better is an option. So genetic manipulation, chips in brains, anything. Because if you don't, then someone else will and then you lose.
I'm guessing most of this is done in secrecy to prevent public outcries.
Lo and behold, for I am a sig!
It is amazing how much money can be found when it comes to ways of killing people - even indirectly e.g hey soldier, boy go 'n kill all those colored folks, and hey if you get your brain shredded by an IED on the wa, we can (sort of) put you back together again.
Neuromancer, I remember playing this game back in the early 80's on my Commodore 64.
-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
How about just ending all wars? Then we won't need prosthesis for soldiers. Plus you can give me back some of my tax money spent on war welfare.
quantum entanglement might actually make for some really wacky ways to transmit data.....and distance is NOT an issue nor is speed.
"Old Man's War" series, especially the second book "The Ghost Brigades". See BrainPal in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man's_War.
"Old Man's War" was a great book for me. IMHO right up there with Starship Trooper, Forever War and Armor.
I got this brain implant from the government and I feel fine. In fact, I feel better than fine. When I watch sitcoms, sports, and reality shows--it's bliss.
what will happen when military tech hits the civilian world?
It does already, and as long as it keeps doing it in Muslim countries I'm all for it.
From now on, if you want to start a war on a developed country, you should do it on a Tuesday. That's the day the soldiers are down for their Windows Updates.
Really? Seems to be working pretty well for Switzerland.
Seriously! You are claiming a country where there is universal conscription and a fully automatic assault rifle in most homes to be pacifist?
Switzerland is not pacifist, they are prepared. And preparedness for war is a factor in maintaining peace.
Ghost in the shell tackles this issue nicely in a sci fi way.
For those who are wondering: These people used to be called Eugenicists.
They got some deserved bad press last century so rebranded themselves. It's still the same bullshit though.
Ethics....please.
These guys are experimenting on humans, torturing in their own home by radio.
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion." - Mentat mantra, something added by David Lynch to his Dune film
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
that's the right specialty wiki for Trek, though sometimes it's interesting to compare the regular wiki article and the specialty wiki article
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Sounds an awful lot like the precursor to the new Deus Ex game. I wonder if we'll see this as a result http://www.sarifindustries.com/
Building an EMP rifle is trivial technology. Hardening against EMP is not as easy - if you build a shield, you just use a bigger pulse that over comes the shield. A friend of mine who was in the army for many years said "Look, between a Map and a GPS? I'll take the map. Shoot a map with a bullet - whaddya got? A map with a hole in it. Shoot a GPS and waddya got? Useless Junk." It all scales from there. The "high / robotic / tech" battlefield is just some circle jerk fantasy by beltway bandits looking for a way to strip mine more money out of the Treasury Dept.
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Steven Pinker on the Myth of Violence
Steven Pinker charts the decline of violence from Biblical times to the present, and argues that, though it may seem illogical and even obscene, given Iraq and Darfur, we are living in the most peaceful time in our species' existence.
No two (relatively) liberal democracies have ever waged a war against each other.
if you are smart enough and think for yourself you can figure out what you need to be healthy in western societies where we have more than enough money to provide for our needs.
but if you dont think for yourself you will end up being utilised by those that can. is this really so bad ? ;P
for example. Fluoride combines with Uracil to form 5-Fluro-uracil, it is thermodynamically stable.
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/1982/c3/c39820000476
This then mucks up the major DNA repair mechanism involving Thymidine.
http://www.scienceinschool.org/2011/issue18/uracil
The 5-FU forms fluoro-dUTP which inhibits ThymidineSynthase which mucks up the carefully controlled ratio of dUTP / dTTP which leads to a impairement in DNA repair and cell reproduction.
BUT it also changes the ratios of other triphosphates .. increasing ATP which is a cellular energy buffer .. so in this sense it allows people to work harder and be pushed more, but they sucumb to disease more easily and die earlier.
The mutation involving deamination of thymidine to uracil is utilised intentionally in the recently evolved adaptive immune system. white blood cells actually mutate specific regions of dna as a way to randomise antibodies, inducing this error prone error correction system to run. but 5-FU also messes with this too. particularly if you are more susceptible due to a lack of DPP enzyme, occuring in 8% of the population.
Look at the side-effects of people treated with 5-FU for cancer. People deficient in DPP often develop severe life threatening illnesses. (Ok the cancer was life threatening also, but its an oportunity to better understand the full effects of 5-FU)
5-FU also mucks up RNA synthesis which uses uracil. So it reduces your ability to express survival factors, and suppresses the production of tryptophan-hydroxylase particularly in the hindbrain where fluoride concentrates. the reduction in serotonin impaires the ability to oppose tyranny, reversal learning etc. fluoride concentrates even more in the pineal, reducing melatonin, decreasing time to maturity reducing iq, and reducing life span.
5-halo-uracils are also radiosensitisers. iodo and bromo are too. when UV hits a Thymidine in double stranded dna it kinks, but halo-uracil is shaped the same and when it becomes incorporated it can prevent the enzyme that repairs this UV damage from doing its job. increase in melanoma rates may not be due to damage of the ozone layer entirely. consider these implications of halogen polution. people are still putting bromine in bread as a preservative. sigh.
Breast milk of mammals has such low amounts of fluorine that even in a high fluoride environment the baby is excreting (expelling deposits in bones etc accumulated during time in the womb) faster then accumulating, until breast feeding ends.
Do you still want to brush your teeth with sodium fluoride to reduce ... what does the real evidence actually show ? 1 to 2 fillings on average, over your lifetime ? if that ! many countries that use no fluoridation have the same decline in tooth decay observed throughout the western world. of course tooth decay has more to do with the acidity of your saliva and body, sugar and too much meat makes your body particularly acidic, including the brain, which becomes inflamed reducing intelligence.
I happen to know many people in their 30's who have avoided fluoride toothpaste, and to a practical extent, minimize avoidable intake of fluorine, and have perfect teeth. I also know entire families that have terrible teeth, use copious amounts of fluoride yet are unable to eat anything that needs to be chewed from lack of sufficient number of remaining functional teeth, and they're within the same ago range. The one clear risk factor is terrible diet compounded by sugar.
if you choose to eat an antinutrient like refined sugar, you might also believe that fluorine, the most reactive halogen, that is leth