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Naomi: I'm Naomi Murf. You're listening to the third part of 523's Mobile Feast on Transhumanity.

 

We've examined how a technologically self-optimized individual might receive a jolt upon entering the structured, standardized learning environment that prioritizes and reinforces predictable selves. Now, we fall into the rabbit hole of brain interfacing and our future.

 

Rachel: Welcome back. I'm Rachel. Naomi, would you explain a bit?

 

Naomi: Sure. Neurons are fundamental units. Their network carries information through electrical and chemical signals throughout the brain and nervous system. According to Alan Woodruff, Manager of Strategic Projects, Queensland Brain Institute, the interactions between neurons make us who we are as people.    

 

Rachel: But what is brain interfacing?

 

Naomi: Basically, we're talking about brain implants that establish communication pathways to select brain regions and are used for today's rehabilitation needs but are tomorrow's augmentations. 

 

Rachel: Are you talking about controlling digital devices with our thoughts?

 

Naomi: At the moment, But scientists, private companies, and countries and their military race to be the first to create a wireless brain implant system. 

 

Synchron, a company with military ties, was the first to insert an endovascular brain implant in 2021. This implant allowed the first recipient, who could not speak or move, to tweet 'Hello World' by his thoughts. 

 

Rachel: Can you imagine being locked in your body?

 

Naomi: It would be hard. 

 

Another major player, Neuralink Corporation, began human trials in mid-2022. Its implant also allows recipients to control digital devices with thoughts. It used a newly designed robotic system to insert the neural threads that connect to an implant.

 

Rachel: Was the procedure considered too delicate to be left in human hands?

 

Naomi: That was mentioned. Now, It's the dawn of a new industry in brain interfacing that will process, stimulate, and transmit brain signals. It's a transhuman vision of cataloguing, uploading, and storing human thoughts and memories. 

 

Rachel: It's like cloud storage and sharing.

 

Naomi: Interesting idea. Nonetheless, there's fear that when 86 billion human neurons, yet to be mapped, become known that knowledge will be privatized. And that privatization leads to the chipped human brain being for profit. So being known cognitively means being an open source to the company owning the chip technology or anyone who obtains access. So maintaining a reliable and robust, fully integrated brain-computer interface will be challenging. It also raises issues of privacy, ownership, and censorship.  

 

Rachel:  Imagine the implications of having your brain hacked.

 

Naomi: It's a common fear. It could also exacerbate existing inequalities and create new societal divisions since different moral and ethical concerns underpin different ways of being.  

 

Rachel: I could be tracked if I had a brain chip.    

 

Naomi: Rest assured, according to Stanford's Brain Interfacing Laboratory director, Paul Nuyujukian, while we are on the cusp of a complete paradigm shift, he believes this wild speculation of trans-humans with superhuman intelligence, uploadable memories, and hacked brains belongs to the realm of science fiction. In reality, science can barely record, interpret, and glean meaningful information about neuron activity.   

 

Rachel: But what about Kurzweil's exponential growth?

 

Naomi: There's time. However, transhumans will eventually implant these technological advances to augment cognition — but until then, they shift the responsibility to the learner who becomes active and self-directed. Learners establish goals, negotiate, and explore for experiential learning.

 

Rachel: Not the school, I knew.

 

Naomi: That's right. Transhumanists believe that the centralization of education curtails individual freedom. They wish to be understood as individuals. So if you still have a teacher, the role changes to a learning experience facilitator. Technology allows the learner to link with diverse networks of humans and non-humans, for connective knowledge. But, there's the other possibility that learners will be monitored and steered into directions deemed suitable.   

 

Rachel: I want options.

 

Naomi: Transhumanity is about having options. Now, cognitive researchers Elizabeth and Robert Bjork remind us that forgetting is a friend to learning. They add that misunderstanding how humans learn can result in non-optimal self-regulated learning. For example, there's a difference between solving a problem, remembering a solution, or connecting to a source. Optimizing learning requires effort by creating conditions that introduce difficulties, like changing context or spacing between the need to recall. 

 

Rachel: But I like learning to be easy.

 

Naomi: You're not alone. Transhumanists over-appreciate aptitude and under-appreciate the value of training, practice, and experience. As we learned from Woolgar, transhumanists see the world through their lens, the authority of science. 

 

Rachel: I didn't like learning by myself during the pandemic. I missed my friends.

 

Naomi: That's a good point. There are various stages of development, such as social, emotional, and physical. Our strength as humans is the ability to generalize experience to the unknown. We're informed by our ancient evolutionary path, our love of life and being finite. 

 

Rachel: I don't think we're ready for Human 2.0.

 

Naomi: Well, having an implanted brain chip allowing for perfect recall does not equate to grasping the meaning to understand; creating new schemas and updating existing ones.  

 

Rachel: I don't want to be a human-machine without feelings.

 

Naomi: Humans have evolved to be with others, but remember that humans have always had a relationship with technology.

 

Rachel: Thank you for listening to us during this series. And don't forget to check out the resource page on the website. 

 

 

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