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- I happened to catch this report tonight on CBS. This is surely interesting stuff and the technology (if we can keep it from being abused) could be quite useful to amputees or perhaps even our veterans who have lost limbs. I do wonder about the part where the host mentioned the possibility of this being used to read thoughts, and the person being interviewed (one of the doctors) said that wasn''t possible because this can only be done with the consent of the patient. Is that only because the patient would have to put the probes on? What stops someone (i.e. the police) from forcing someone to wear the sensor?
This technology really has the potential to be used to invade privacy at levels never before thought possible. I am glad they have not managed to decipher the brain yet. That means that for now, we are safe from this kind of stuff. They can listen, but they wont understand anything. For now. - Reply to this comment
- Regarding the brainpower segment..have they done trials with teens with cerebral palsy?? I have a very bright 15 year old son who is nonverbal and in a wheelchair. This would be...well, I can''t find the words, but I believe my son would, given the chance.
Please.
Rose Crivolio
rcriv@aol.com - Reply to this comment
- I%u2019ve been talking about this for 20+ years, except my vision had the plug at the brain stem, back of your neck. Of course I liked The Matrix except for the fact that Neo was in a chair laying down as if he was at the dentist. The Brain Computer Interface I envisioned though was for realizing the music that was playing in my head. The Singularity Is Near and this device, though dedicated to neuro-muscular apps, will play a big role at achieving A.I. This path needs a neuroscientist with a big grant to study apps with FMRIs - Functional Magnetic Resonance Imagers and other such gear.
Two serendipitous realities in this piece: Cathy Hutchinson (my surname) and comment two about patients with MS. My wife and I are both stricken with MS. - Reply to this comment
- I just watched Scott Pelley''s piece on 60 minutes on brain power.
I am Keven Lee Hulings and I have had ALS for 17 years. At present I use a DynaVox communication device which is also a laptop computer, I am using my chin to type this request.
I am interested in contacting Mr. Mackler about "Brain Power", I feel as though I am a perfect candidate for a research guinea-pig.
I''m not sure of your procedures of giving out email addresses so I will give you mine to pass on to Mr. Mackler about my request for clinical studies in the thought control field.
Hugo@netsync.net
Thank you for your time! - Reply to this comment
- I just watched Scott Pelley''s piece on 60 minutes on brain power.
I am Keven Lee Hulings and I have had ALS for 17 years. At present I use a DynaVox communication device which is also a laptop computer, I am using my chin to type this request.
I am interested in contacting Mr. Mackler about "Brain Power", I feel as though I am a perfect candidate for a research guinea-pig.
I''m not sure of your procedures of giving out email addresses so I will give you mine to pass on to Mr. Mackler about my request for clinical studies in the thought control field.
Hugo@netsync.net
Thank you for your time! - Reply to this comment
- To those who are critical of research with animals:
(a) Get your priorities straight.
(b) Control your inflammatory language.
(c) emmajupiter1, please get an education before you make baseless, uninformed accusations about highly ethical and sensitive people doing incredibly difficult work that ultimately benefits ALL living creatures.
(d) Most researchers have the same pets and sensitivities to animals as do most other people - be assured that they would not use animals if there were a better alternative. - Reply to this comment
- You never explained what happened to the monkey%u2019s right arm, that he or she was forced to learn to use an appendage that wasn%u2019t his/her own. What was done? Was the arm cut off for the %u201Cgood of science?%u201D
How many animals sacrificed their freedom, their joy of living, their lives for this invention?
If people and their families wish to be screwed into a computer system from their brains as that woman who suffered a stroke, it is their choice and I support that choice wholeheartedly and am glad for them to have some sense of their own independence returned to them.
But the animals have no choice. They are simply used and thrown away like machines. They are intelligent, they have feelings, souls and your segment expressed support for their enslavement, by not showing a more complete story to your viewers. This is unconscionable.
Your failure to include their voices and their sacrifices, is an indication that %u201C60 Minutes%u201D has some growing up to do before it can add ethical journalism to the many things for which it congratulates itself. - Reply to this comment
- You never explained what happened to the monkey%u2019s right arm, that he or she was forced to learn to use an appendage that wasn%u2019t his/her own. What was done? Was the arm cut off for the %u201Cgood of science?%u201D
How many animals sacrificed their freedom, their joy of living, their lives for this invention?
If people and their families wish to be screwed into a computer system from their brains as that woman who suffered a stroke, it is their choice and I support that choice wholeheartedly and am glad for them to have some sense of their own independence returned to them.
But the animals have no choice. They are simply used and thrown away like machines. They are intelligent, they have feelings, souls and your segment expressed support for their enslavement, by not showing a more complete story to your viewers. This is unconscionable.
Your failure to include their voices and their sacrifices, is an indication that %u201C60 Minutes%u201D has some growing up to do before it can add ethical journalism to the many things for which it congratulates itself. - Reply to this comment
- After seeing your recent segment about the brain and the wonders it can perform in sync with computers, I would like to ask some of the questions that did not get asked in this segment and point out some of the video that was not shown.
Despite my fascination with the brain, and my wish that such a possibility could have been available for my father after he suffered a massive stroke 14 years ago and died this past February, without ever being able to walk again, I also must give voice to the voiceless in the %u2018person%u2019 of the monkey you showed briefly and the many other animals you did not show or credit, who participated in the discovery/creation of this brain-machine.
You never showed a full-on picture of the monkey. Why? Because people watching couldn%u2019t handle the fact that you supported in your piece, the complete denial of this intelligent sentient being%u2019s freedom (including being allowed to move independently) not locked into a piece of equipment? Were you afraid of what viewers might say? Were you afraid they wouldn%u2019t praise you and the scientists and the University of Pittsburgh and %u201C60 Minutes%u201D to the skies, once they realized what the %u201Ccompromises%u201D and sacrifices might be? - Reply to this comment
- I was sickened by this story and the way it glossed over the horrible abuse of these monkeys. The worst part of it all is the great irony that lies in all of this. Do we really believe that these monkeys have brains that are so similar to ours that they can do exactly the same things under these conditions and yet they don''t have the same thoughts and feelings in those same brains that cause us to value our own lives? Nothing truly good comes from true evil. And forcing suffering on innocent animals is nothing if not evil! We must not fall into the trap of believing that the ends justify the means! The means must be just!
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