having access to instant data via the brain-net will make you dumber. writing caused us to stop remembering things. Why bother memorizing things when you could write them down?
With the internet (or something similar) available to store information, there will be no need to remember anything. people will forget how to remember.
The internet has worked its way into my brain. If I can’t remember something, I go to a search engine and find it, even if it isn’t very interesting, just because it’s so convenient. So when I was on a trip and couldn’t think of leann rime’s name, I had no way to remember it other than hoping it would eventually bubble to the surface of the compost lying around in my brain, which it did a few hours later. Instead of having tools for recalling momentarily inaccessible information already in my head, I found myself preoccupied by strategies for finding the name on the search engines–country western music, blue, grand old opry, and so on. I was coming up with keywords useful in an internet search, but useless to me in actually remembering her name.
ten years ago I would have scoffed at the notion of the internet changing the way people think and interact. Now I have much more respect for the revolutionary changes wrought by instant access to information.
Monitors have been developed that project a monitor image directly onto the cornea via laser. It makes the monitor appear as if it were huge and at some distance away, like working at a 10-foot monitor screen across the room, completely readable. The projector was small enough to wear around your neck. It could be built into some goggles. In a generation, it might be built into the frames of glasses, or in an implant that can be placed directly inside the eye. Virtually all of the stuff in your computer is involved in I/O, not in computing itself, so you shouldn’t think of a computer as being a huge box, or even a slimline notebook. the ram and chip are tiny and could be implanted under your skin on your skull or other part of your body. The revolution that needs to occur is in I/O–getting information to ram and back out of ram in a usable form. You could print your thoughts wirelessly, save them to disk, and do far more–trick your body into thinking it isn’t hungry, know your exact location at all times, find the fastest route through a series of cities, and so on. Putting this information to use would take intelligence, as well as knowing the difference between an urban legend and a news report.
And if you catch a crippling virus, well nothing could be more crippling that believing you aren’t good enough or are too fat or not smart enough or are unloved. When these things happen, it’s easy enough to identify the victim. He votes republican. I expect that wireless implanted computer viruses will have similarly easily diagnosable symptoms.