The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-01-11 16:21:33
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Nita Farahany
- ISBN：B09Y45MY2V
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
In Nita A。 Farahany's The Battle for Your Brain， a rock star academic explores the final frontier of personal privacy: your mind…
Reviews
Thomas Sowers
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Farahany's book is the rare work of a rare academic--applied， prescient， and timely。 This work will long be looked at as a first clarion call for the right to cognitive liberty and clearly setting the stage for one of the largest fights for the next decades--aptly titled The Battle for Your Brain。A polymath herself， Farahany integrates peer-reviewed academia with popular culture， and philosophy with children's cartoons and video games， from the fringes of the Internet to the decisions before the Farahany's book is the rare work of a rare academic--applied， prescient， and timely。 This work will long be looked at as a first clarion call for the right to cognitive liberty and clearly setting the stage for one of the largest fights for the next decades--aptly titled The Battle for Your Brain。A polymath herself， Farahany integrates peer-reviewed academia with popular culture， and philosophy with children's cartoons and video games， from the fringes of the Internet to the decisions before the halls of power。 Her work breathlessly and seamlessly shifts from military， commercial， foreign policy， marketing， and academic impacts of the changing landscape of neuroscience。 She does not dumb down the science but puts it in context with the lived world。As a business leader， this book gives me pause。 I run a company that employs over 300 pilots with a strong commitment to safety。 This book rightly questions simple decisions I've considered--whether to adopt health and biometric tracking of our pilots to ensure even higher safety。 After reading this book， the answer is much more complicated than I considered。As a quantitative self-focused on my health， who tracks and uploads my biometrics daily， this book examines the benefits and pitfalls of expanding that tracking to my mind。And as a concerned citizen， this work reinforces that policymakers must rapidly establish norms as larger tech companies race to not just control our clicks but our thoughts。 。。。more
Elizabeth Burton
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While a fairly large percentage of those who engage regularly with technology are convinced they don’t need to worry about the fact their every move is being noted and preserved because they aren’t doing anything interesting， a smaller one understands the long-range potential of the various ways our devices are spying on us。tThe extent to which our lives are no longer our own should concern everyone， but it doesn’t。 Given the potential next stage of technological intrusion， it’s time to fix that While a fairly large percentage of those who engage regularly with technology are convinced they don’t need to worry about the fact their every move is being noted and preserved because they aren’t doing anything interesting， a smaller one understands the long-range potential of the various ways our devices are spying on us。tThe extent to which our lives are no longer our own should concern everyone， but it doesn’t。 Given the potential next stage of technological intrusion， it’s time to fix that。 For example， there are apps available now for use in monitoring sleep that should really make sensible people nervous。t“Consumers can see graphic displays of their brain wave activity in real time—delta （dreamless sleep）， theta （deep relaxation， daydreaming， inwardly focused）， alpha （very relaxed， taking a break， meditating）， beta （aroused， engaged， stressed）， and gamma （concentrating） waves—as well as patterns of blood flow in their brains and even the bioelectric changes in their muscles。” tAt the moment， we’re assured that information is only stored locally， but bear in mind we’ve heard that song before。tDr。 Farahany is trying to get a jump on that next stage of that constant surveillance by alerting us to the ways the technology boffins are slowly but steadily advancing into the last bastion of our privacy—our minds。t“We must establish the right to cognitive liberty—to protect our freedom of thought and rumination， mental privacy， and self-determination over our brains and mental experiences。” tAlready， she tells us， eager technophiles are experimenting with peripherals that allow them to play games using only their thoughts， or rather the micro-muscular movements triggered by their thoughts。 It’s still early days， after all。 And they do so totally oblivious to the kind of date being harvested while they’re having fun， data that will be used to create the next generation of brain monitors disguised as tools and toys。t“Unbeknownst to the gamers， the researchers were able to steal information from their brains by measuring their unconscious brain responses that signaled recognition to stimuli， including a PIN code for one gamer’s credit card and their home address。” tWell， I hear you thinking， I just won’t use any of that stuff。 The problem is， corporations are already using it to monitor worker productivity， or in the trucking industry to determine when a driver has been on the road too long and showing signs of fatigue。t“[N]eurotech may become a requirement in modern workplaces and schools: no wristband， no job。” Those who consider this farfetched are reminded there are currently multiple lawsuits pending brought by people， including healthcare professionals， who objected to being ordered to accept an experimental "vaccine" and were summarily fired。 And still can't get their jobs back despite the growing evidence the treatment they refused is ineffective for the purpose advertised。tThe problem， as is so often the case with questions like this is: Where do we draw the line between technological invasion and service to humanity？ After all， Dr。 Farahany notes， it’s hard to oppose something that can prevent accidents by ensuring workers are too tired to work safely。t“From Australia to the Americas and parts of Africa， more than five thousand companies worldwide in mining， construction， trucking， aviation， railway， and other industries use SmartCap [currently available monitoring technology] to ensure that their employees are wide awake。” tThen there are the medical applications。tHowever， along about Chapter 5， Dr。 Farahany gives away that while her theme purports to be protecting the privacy of our thoughts， she's still more than a little enthralled by the idea of enhancing the human body using technology。 You know—creating what in science fiction used to be called “cyborgs”。 After all， just because using chemical enhancements in athletic competitions is illegal should preclude our using technological ones to improve our mental performance。 And if one person uses it， won’t everyone who wants to be competitive need to accept those same enhancements？t“Better brain functioning can make us more successful at work， enhance our earning potential， reduce our likelihood of experiencing social and economic difficulties， and improve our overall health。” tI’ve seldom read a better example of free-market capitalist reasoning for screwing around with our bodies and minds。tNevertheless， as an alert to what’s waiting in the wings to be introduced into our society， this books does what needs doing; and the explanation of the basics needed to protect ourselves from government and corporate overreach are worth the time to read about them。 Although Dr。 Farahany occasionally falls into full academic jargon mode， for the most part the book is reader-friendly， and the message is important enough to wade through the more technical stuff。tI would certainly recommend this to both technophiles and technophobes， on the grounds it’s better to know and not need than to need and not know。 I don't share Dr。 Farahany's enthusiasm for technological enhancements for reasons biological and ethical， in that a neoliberal free-market economy guarantees those who can afford it will be those who already have more advantages than they need。 Still， the book addresses an important issue not enough of us are thinking about。 。。。more
Rick Burcik
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This is a masterful book that everyone must read。 As Ms。 Farahany convincingly proves， soon every employer is going to require that we all wear wristbands or headbands that will allow these firms to completely read our minds。 Yes， they will be able to know one's every unspoken thought and they could use this information to our detriment。 As Farahany clearly points out the time to assure our freedom from this unwarranted intrusion is now。 This is a masterful book that everyone must read。 As Ms。 Farahany convincingly proves， soon every employer is going to require that we all wear wristbands or headbands that will allow these firms to completely read our minds。 Yes， they will be able to know one's every unspoken thought and they could use this information to our detriment。 As Farahany clearly points out the time to assure our freedom from this unwarranted intrusion is now。 。。。more
Jeff
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