At the moment, the implant idea is all too vague. Now, it comes with a way of visualizing what people are seeing or thinking about. As invasion of privacy goes, this is way too far. If your mind isnt private, what is? The tech is interesting. It does have a lot of useful applications for people who need connection with faulty neural systems. There are some very strong positives. However - This tech is also dangerous and potentially a security risk. Given that any such system has to be functional and connect with a network or standalone device, security has to be considered a critical issue. One of the major issues for any new tech, whether its the pathetic Internet of Things or some sort of direct hardwired connection to anything, is the risk of brilliance in half-ass concepts. This idea hasnt had anything like the research required to create basic safeguards. If you search implants on Google News, you get this endearing little search result:One of the first things youll notice is a charming term called brainjacking. This is a thing which stems from hacking things like monitored medical implants. Its dangerous. Its also a great way of not being able to function mentally. Given that most hackers are also to some extent determined to be smarter than everyone else, its a high-risk situation. (Ironically, this rather well-known psychopathic/sociopathic behaviour doesnt seem to have been scrutinized at all by neuroscience or anyone else. What if the risk for the hackers was getting some sort of behavioural modification chip? Poetic justice, if it works.)As unimpressive, or perhaps a bit worse, Check out this little gem from Business Insider: Outlook on the Brain Implants Global Market to 2025 - Increased Incidences of Neurological Disorders is Driving Growth Yep, Big Neuroscience is now also grafted on to the medical sector racket. Your brain could be just another commodity, and very expensive to operate. The typical business environment for anything medical is to gouge first and do nothing about any problems for the patients, financial or otherwise. The Great Scientific Insularity SyndromeMost of the criticisms of implants are pretty obvious. The reaction so far to all of them is that the future will solve the problems, in effect. Thats hardly good enough. Future risks may be hard to define with current terminology, but theyre not hard to see. Science is getting far much too like Creationism in rejecting criticism or anything outside conventional theory. The ideas may be OK, but dont question the geniuses. Were right, therefore everyone else is wrong is a truly dismal, and remarkably stupid, perspective. Well leave out the pig-ignorance of such an unprofessional view for now. Scientific dogma is no more useful than any other type of dogma. Its a pre-programmed failure to do any actual thinking. When it comes to anything as drastic as a brain implant, thats a truly lousy start. Most of the mistakes with brain implants havent been invented yet; but the theory is driving the process of ignoring the risks? Because we have this great idea, we will ignore all possible issues? How can that work at all? The other risk Pseudoscience and implantsAnother area science seems to overlook is the floating scum of pseudoscience in the medical marketplace. What if some nut gets hold of this tech and markets a half-baked form of it? Remember what happened with stem cells, which were suddenly a cure for everything and didn't work at all? Some people simply don't see why they should bother with such things. The total lack of regulation of tech and the prehistoric laws cant keep up with this. If there are no built-in safeguards, a lot of people could suffer. One obvious safeguard is a user-controlled Off switch. Unplugging a faulty appliance is a no-brainer. Why not for an implant? You could have a neurological safeguard built in for connected functions, too, separate from the main operating system. This is hardly high tech, anyone could build in a switch or two. Point being Anything which affects the brain needs to be safely manageable by the owner of that brain. Either that or expect some of the biggest lawsuits the world has ever seen, applied to doctors, neurologists, patent owners, and more. Also expect some very angry people.

This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com

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