Imagine this: a leader of a country- a prime minister or president- has some critical information they must not disclose for the safety of a country. What if there were some dangerous organizations who would like to malevolently misuse this information? Be it a password, a network or even a name, an EEG sensor could detect, process and share it.
If you didn’t watch the TED talk, “EEG” stands for Electroencephalography, but don’t worry, we’ll use the initialism instead. It is a way of recording electrical patterns in your brain. Often, it used to help diagnose conditions such as seizures, epilepsy, head injuries, dizziness, headaches, brain tumors and sleeping problems. An EEG can be found in almost every hospital emergency room- because it is the only machine that can confirm brain death.
Along with the positive things EEG sensors can do, there are- as per usual- negative drawbacks… EEG sensors can read simple thoughts. You may be thinking, “Simple thoughts? Doesn’t seem that dangerous…” But simple thoughts include numbers, words, names and even shapes. You know what else falls into that category? A password or a social security number… Or even your address!
If we continue to advance technology with the same speed we are now, we could have extremely thorough EEGs in the near future. Facebook is a company that has already traded personal information to other companies, so would it really be that surprising if people traded our personal thoughts too?
With these sensors, you could be in a room of sheer honesty- I mean, raw emotions with no filter: complete transparency. Can you imagine everyone knowing a personal thought the moment it forms in your mind?
I didn’t think the idea would appeal to you, either… After all, people should be given the privacy to think through their personal thoughts and feelings before choosing to share them with others- if at all!
Don’t worry though; there is a multitude of things we can do to protect our right to thought. We need to speak out, for our right of cognitive liberty- a right that would ensure our freedom of thought, of unspoken opinions, and creativity. But for now, enjoy it while you can,
Nobody knows what the future has in store.
The original TED Talk video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHV_BxlNzmM
