This week Wired interviewed Bryan Johnson, the founder of Kernel which is a company researching how to build and implant chips into the skulls of people, starting with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s patients to reprogram their neural networks.
Some of the highlights include:
Steven Levy: Why do you want to put in a chip in the brain? Bryan Johnson: The next frontier of human aspiration is inside our brains. We currently understand the world through our sensory mechanisms, and we will find thousands or millions of Everests as we unlock our brains.…
Changing our brains to alter our feelings sounds dystopian to me. Haven’t you seen Black Mirror? I have. This is the emotional experience we always have with emerging technology. When most people encounter this, they have the same visceral response: “That’s scary. I feel uncomfortable. I like myself just the way I am.” As people warm up to the idea, they marinate in it and contemplate the other factors at play. Why do we think that what we have is so sacred? Why do we think that we are the holy standard at this point in time and that to change the configuration needs some massive justification? Isn’t humanity a constant effort to change ourselves, through things like meditation? Are we not just inherently dissatisfied with ourselves?
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If some people raise their abilities by brain augmentation, wouldn’t people who don’t change be at a disadvantage? They might not be able to compete in education, in jobs, and even in cocktail conversation. So it really wouldn’t be a choice, would it? Well, how do you feel about some people getting a private education and other people being stuck in inner city schools? I don’t feel great about it. So it’s already happening. People somehow think that a cognitive improvement is something new to the scene. It’s not. We just simply have different forms. A private education is a form of enhancement. Humans always do whatever they can to maximize their well being. If we simply add technology to the brain, it’s a continuation of what humans have always done. Now, my hope is that we can build technology that would be accessible for billions. But the point is, this is not a new problem.
It is definitely something very interesting and cool to think about, and the issue regarding disparity of cognitive ability reminds me of one of my favorite posts on WSO (We’re Totally Living In a Simulation by @Eddie Braverman). It sparks the discussion of simulation, The Fermi Paradox and Happiness Boxes. Like Happiness Boxes, I think that the first batch of brain microchips will cost a billion dollars, and the second will cost a nickel, thus the issue of cognitive disparity will quickly shrink.
What are your initial thoughts from seeing this? Do you think Kernel will stick with the medical industry or pivot to a more VR focused company? Is this the beginning of Happiness Boxes? Looking forward to hear your thoughts monkeys.
