In The Sirens of Titan, the soldiers in the Martian Army were all fitted (from age 14) with a brain implant capable of punishing them for disloyal thoughts.
As I understand it, devices are already being made enabling speech-impaired people to communicate words by thinking them. If a brain chip is capable of reading one’s mind to that degree, could Kurt Vonnegut’s dystopic proposal be a real possibility?
Indeed. In 1972 I saw my first (very simple) pocket calculator, brought to an sf meeting (in the One Tun pub) by Arthur C Clarke as the latest technological wonder. In the half century since I have seen these digital things get ever more sophisticated and also cheaper. I tend to assume that what’s impossible now will be commonplace a decade or two hence.
The trouble is that I can see quite a few positives to this as well as dangers. If a device can effectively read minds, it will make a very efficient lie detector, which will help to clear innocent defendants, and will be especially useful in “He says - She says” cases like accusations of rape or child abuse.
Also, I understand that such a device can already cause someone’s thumb to cross over his palm w/o his consent. Presumably it won’t be long before the main limbs can be controlled in like manner. A prison riot wouldn’t last long if a touch on a remote could cause the rioters to kneel down with arms behind their backs.
So there’ll be a lot of voices heard in support of these implants. But of course the negative implications are pretty scary. What becomes of the Fifth Amendment if an accused person’s mind can be read? How long before a refusal to submit to this gets seen as an admission of guilt?
Also, how may child development be affected if parents and others have an infallible way to tell not only whether a child or teenager is lying, but also what the truth is? And in some societies I could imagine the implant being programmed to administer an eye–watering stab of pain for evey falsehood. It may also be programmable to allow the kid’s exact location to be checked at any time. Some parents might consider this a great idea, but would it really be desirable?
Not to mention a load of other possiblle consequences which I haven’t even thought of yet.
Yikes, Mike, you should be scripting episodes of Black Mirror. I see three or four possible TASAT Challenges in your comment.
I don’t know if mind reading can ever be an accurate lie detector, given that our own memories can be so fallible and convincing at the same time. But of course lack of accuracy hasn’t kept the polygraph out of law enforcement.
Agreed it’s still uncertain how accurate such a lie detector would be, but I should think it would at any rate be streets ahead of the polygraph. And it would at least be hard for anyone to get away with a deliberate lie.
The brain chip might also become popular with mental institutions, esp those dealing in “adolescent therapy”, and to “therapeutic boarding schools”. . If this sounds alarmist I’d suggest googling “Judge Rotenberg Centre”, for a hair-raising example of what such places can get away with even now
Further thought. Would even a remote control be needed ffor some purposes?
If the chip could be programmed to recognise a particular voice, then it might become possible to administer fierce stabs of pain just by saying “Naughty!” or “Cut that out!” in a sharp tone.
I quiver a bit at the thought of someone in the position of, say, Britney Spears’ father being able to have her fitted with such a device.
Depends on who implants it and what his/her motives are.
I take your point abut voice ID though. I’ve been getting a huge number of callers whio don’t say anything when/if I pick up the phone, and have been wondering if it’s a ruse to get a sample of my voice.
Incidentally, Murray Leinster came close to this idea a decade before Vonnegut.
In The Last Space Ship, he envisaged a “Disciplinary Circuit” which could inflict pain at a distance. Apparently it had quickly caught on, as it ended the need for expensive prisons, but had soon come to be misused by dictators, to the point where there were few if any democracies left in the Galaxy.
Leinster’s version differed from Vonnegut’s in that the painful sensation was simply transmitted and did not require a physical implant, but otherwise he came quite close, especially in identifying a plausible way for his device to gain acceptance.
Bit of a tangent, as it’s not a brain interface (yet) — but inspired the thought: what if instead of reading thoughts or inflicting pain, we just make everyone think they’re happy? Imagine the savings on propaganda…
Scientific American reports on a study suggesting that stimulating facial expressions may influence mood: Readable archive link.
Ironically this is one of the things that worries me. There are so many positives to brain implanting that it is certain to be widely used. There’ll be no way to put the genie back in the bottle.
And once implants are considered normal they’ll get used for less pleasant purposes as well. If we insist on having the roses wwe shall have to accept the thorns as well - some of which may be quite sharp.