This is novel, but maybe not as novel as it seems. EEG will show if you are looking left or right in the raw signal, and the technology for making a rat move in certain directions with implanted electrodes is not new. I still think that the motto ‘just because we can, doesn’t mean we should’ applies here, and I’m a bit surprised there hasn’t been more ethical pushback; having one mind control another, even with relatively crude technology and outcomes, feels like an ethical stepping stone that should be more carefully examined before proceeding.
also, just looking now at the date, it is a relatively old paper
> having one mind control another, even with relatively crude technology and outcomes, feels like an ethical stepping stone that should be more carefully examined before proceeding.
We know for a fact that CIA was already researching mind control seven decades ago (Project MKUltra).
It's a bit odd to combine the idea of this post with the one on paralyzed people sending texts with their minds. Paralyzed people controlling other creatures via their minds. Sort of a cyberpunk familiar / spirit animal.
Reminds me of the rat thing security cyborg dog in Snow Crash. Powered by a small nuclear device, it runs faster than the speed of sound to stay cool and resides in a liquid nitrogen cooled hatch when not moving. Completely ridiculous of course. But fun.
Journals should enforce non-clickbait titles. "Mind control" and "cyborgs" are not scientific terms. Just as how "sentience when embodied" is new age mumbo jumbo. I am certain that the reviewers asked for a title change, but some authors love the clickbait. Maybe it gets them more refs?
I don't see the problem with the language here, the rats are indeed cyborgs (just like humans with pacemakers) and humans are actually engaging in mind control here.
I think cyborg is a perfectly fine scientific term used in multiple papers, why makes you not like it?
i dont think it's scientific at all, does my dental filling make me a cyborg and where is that line crossed. And then u have what is 'mind control', what is 'mind'
That many paper titles use it does not mean it's a common scientific term. This is context-dependent, could be ok in an opinion or philosophy paper, but in an experimenal paper about locomotion control via brain-machine interfaces it s just unacceptable imo
I always assumed a cyborg is a mechanically assisted biological being, while a machine controlled biological body is the opposite of a cyborg, a psychotron.
This is what I thought too. Imagine being the rat and instinctively knowing that you should be moving away from the danger yet somehow, something is compelling you to move towards it. The conscious fear that the rat feels that would normally protect it from the dangerous situation is overridden by an external influence that leads it to its doom.
I think there are obvious ethical issues to consider here. If we would not place ourselves in the situation we should not use another animal as a surrogate or to substitute for our cowardice.
I agree with all you have written except for one thing. Look around, if you randomly sample comments in this thread, how many are mentioning these "obvious ethical issues"?
Perhaps I see an ethical issue where others only see an opportunity. Maybe if they had to be on the research subject side of that opportunity instead of the researcher side they might also see an ethical issue.
You're observation also applies to the direction a lot of tech development is taking. People look for opportunities and ignore the consequences for the ones who can't participate or who become unwilling participants. Pretty sad state of affairs.
If only the story was better [1]: to think that humans have interstellar travelling and mind transfer but apparently they must kill some primitive tribes for some goo MacGuffin which grants immortality (?), ChatGPT could have written a better story [2].
prompt: write a short story where humans have interstellar travelling and mind transfer
ChatGPT: >>>
In the year 2205, humanity had achieved what was once thought impossible: interstellar travel. They had discovered ways to fold space and time, allowing them to travel to distant planets and even other galaxies. But their greatest achievement was something else entirely: the ability to transfer human consciousness from one body to another.
It was a breakthrough that had been decades in the making, but finally, it had become a reality. People could now leave their physical bodies behind and travel the universe as digital beings. They could inhabit the bodies of robots, or even other humans, in different parts of the galaxy. It was a strange and exhilarating time, and the possibilities seemed endless.
One such person was a man named John. He had been a scientist his whole life, and he was fascinated by the idea of brain transfer. He had always believed that consciousness was more than just a product of the brain, that it was something separate and eternal. And now, with the ability to transfer his mind from one body to another, he felt like he was on the verge of discovering the ultimate truth.
One day, John decided to take a journey across the galaxy. He transferred his mind into the body of a sleek, metallic robot and set off into the void. As he traveled through space, he marveled at the wonders he saw. He visited planets with exotic landscapes, met alien beings of all shapes and sizes, and even witnessed the birth of a star.
But then, something unexpected happened. As he was exploring a distant planet, his robot body was destroyed in a freak accident. John's consciousness was left floating in the void of space, unable to find a new host.
For a while, he felt lost and alone, adrift in the emptiness of the universe. But then, something remarkable happened. He began to feel a sense of freedom he had never felt before. He was no longer tied to a physical body, no longer limited by the constraints of biology.
John realized that he had been wrong all along. Consciousness wasn't something that existed outside of the brain, it was something that was intimately tied to it. And in that moment, he knew that he had found the ultimate truth he had been searching for.
So he remained in the void of space, content in his newfound freedom. He watched as stars were born and died, and marveled at the infinite beauty of the universe. And even though he was alone, he knew that he was never truly alone, for he was part of something much larger than himself.
Self-contradictory. "John's consciousness was left floating in the void of space" and "Consciousness wasn't something that existed outside of the brain".
If anyone wants to spend some time in a universe like this, I can suggest the fantastic "Know Evil" campaign of the eclipse phase system from the roleplayingpublicradio podcast. [1]
also, just looking now at the date, it is a relatively old paper