. Social categories are powerful and pervasive cognitivetools for organizing the social world and enhancing the speedand efficacy of person perception processes

We are being propelled into this new century with no plan, no control, no brakes. Have wealready gone too far down the path to alter course?

What are the moral implications here? If we must move beyond Earth this quickly in orderfor the species to survive, who accepts the responsibility for the fate of those (most of us,after all) who are left behind? And even if we scatter to the stars, isn't it likely that we maytake our problems with us or find, later, that they have followed us? The fate of our specieson Earth and our fate in the galaxy seem inextricably linked

Faced with such assessments, some serious people are already suggesting that we simplymove beyond Earth as quickly as possible.

It seems to me far more likely that a robotic existence wouldnot be like a human one in any sense that we understand,

A second dream of robotics is that we will gradually replace ourselves with our robotictechnology, achieving near immortality by downloading our consciousnesses;

that intelligent machines can do our work for us, allowingus lives of leisure,

But now, with the prospect of human-level computing power in about 30 years, a new ideasuggests itself: that I may be working to create tools which will enable the construction ofthe technology that may replace our species

I have long realized that the big advances in information technology come not from thework of computer scientists, computer architects, or electrical engineers, but from that ofphysical scientists.

field, or at least not so soon

My life has been driven by a deep need to ask questions and find answers. When I was 3, Iwas already reading, so my father took me to the elementary school, where I sat on theprincipal's lap and read him a story. I started school early, later skipped a grade, andescaped into books—I was incredibly motivated to learn. I asked lots of questions, oftendriving adults to distraction

Uncontrolled self-replication in these newer technologies runs a much greater risk: a risk of substantialdamage in the physical world

They can self-replicate.

peoplewill let machines make more of their decisions for them, simply because machine-madedecisions will bring better results than man-made ones.

machines would willfullyseize power

became involved in the creation of new technologies, their ethicaldimensions have concerned me, but it was only in the autumn of 1998 that I becameanxiously aware of how great are the dangers facing us in the 21st century

By making that choice, you decided that certain values are more impor-tant than others.

Libertarians claim that even if an action is undetermined by past events, it can nevertheless be free as long as it is caused by a self or agent

We argue that what looks like a pre-conscious decision process may not in fact reflect a decision at all.

Driving a car is a conscious, free action even though we may not be con-sciously aware of the conscious actions it involves

Control Yourself225Again, the point is that we can consciously and freely do something without being consciously aware that we are consciously doing it. Roskies gives the example of driving a car.

According to Reid, acting freely requires deciding for yourself what desires you’re going to act on.

But Einstein doesn’t believe that we can.

If we put aside the misleading idea that free will depends onsupernatural souls rather than our quite miraculous brain

True, the mind sciences willcontinue to show that consciousness does not work in just the wayswe thought

oesn’t neuroscience show thatour brains make decisions before we are conscious of them suchthat our conscious decisions are bypassed?

So, if people mistakenly take causal determinism tomean that everything that happens is inevitable no matter whatyou think or try to do, then they conclude that we have no free will

We act of our own free will to the extent that we have theopportunity to exercise these capacities, without unreasonableexternal or internal pressure

Our brains are the most complexly organized things in the knownuniverse

But to conclude that consciousness orfree will is thereby an illusion is too quick

flawed notion of free will

Indeed, free will matters in part because it is a precondition fordeserving blame for bad acts and deserving credit forachievements

s free will an illusion?

No wonder the belief in freewill is so prevalent in society—the very survival of those“selfishfree-will genes”is predicated on their capacity to con one intobelieving in free will

A belief in free will is akin to religious beliefs

Wootton, the British criminologist,“If mental health and ill-health cannot be defined in objective scientific terms that are freeof subjective moral judgments, it follows that we have no reliablecriterion by which to distinguish the sick from the healthy mind.The road is then wide open...to dispense with the concept ofresponsibility altogether

f free will is an illusion, then it becomes more difficult to holdpeople responsible for their actions.

Thelawsofnature are uniform throughout, and these laws do not accommodatethe concept of free will. Some will argue that once we understandbetter the mechanistic details that underlie consciousness, then wewill understand free will.

Many believe that the consequences of a society lacking freewill would be disastrous. In contrast, I argue that we do notnecessarily need to be pessimistic about confronting a worldlacking free will. Indeed, it is quite possible that progress in someof the more vexing sociological problems may be better achievedonce we clarify our thinking concerning the concepts of free willand fault.

as livingsystems we are nothing more than a bag of chemicals

to make conscious decisionsthat are not simply a reflection of their makeup and the sur-rounding environment.

t is my belief that, as more attention is given to the mechanismsthat govern human behavior, it will increasingly be seen that theconcept of free will is an illusion, and the fallacy of a basic premiseof the judicial system will become more apparent.

But if free will does notexist, there can be no responsibility, and the structure of humansocieties must be revised”

n individualcannot be held responsible for either his genes or his environment

nature versus nurture

Should the Fourth Amendmentprotect our minds in the same way that it protects our houses?

‘read out’ the witness’s memorie

that we have not free willbut “free won’t.”

If adolescent brains caused all adolescent behavior, “we would expectthe rates of homicide to be the same for 16- and 17-year-olds everywhere inthe world — their brains are alike — but in fact, the homicide rates of Danishand Finnish youths are very different than American youths.” Morse agrees

“To a neuroscientist, you are your brain; nothing causes your behavior otherthan the operations of your brain,”

Under these circumstances, most people say it’s not O.K. to kill one personto save five.

adolescents are less able thanadults to control their impulses and should not be held fully accountable“for the immaturity of their neural anatomy.”

“You were focusing on the intent, and the others focusedon the harm,” Buckholtz said reassuringly.

” I was told to press buttons indicating theappropriate level of punishment, from 0 to 9, as the magnet recorded mybrain activity

We then made our way to the scanner. After removing all metal objects —including a belt and a stray dry-cleaning tag with a staple

Lawyers routinely orderscans of convicted defendants’ brains and argue that a neurologicalimpairment prevented them from controlling themselves. The prosecution

But if you suffer from such aserious defect, the law generally doesn’t care why

Even the most reliable neurological results,the jury must decide whether competing evidence aboutwitness credibility should take precedence.

“reasonable expectation of pri-Q3vacy” any time that law enforcement agents seek informa-tion about subjects’ inner bodily processes.

MRItechniques identify differences in images of brain activation25produced during truthful and deceptive acts by holding asubject’s head stationary inside a strong magnetic field tomeasure regional blood oxygenation levels.

Memory detection technologies could transform the charac-ter of criminal justice in the United States

When someone is telling the truth, the areas of the brain shown here in green become active. If he is lying, the parts of thebrain shown in red display even more activity.

Butwe'llallfeelabitsaferifthiskindoftechnologyisusedinplaceslikeairports

explainsthathisgoalistocreateawearabledevice"thatletsmeknowwhatyou'rethinkingwithoutyoutellingme.IfIaskyouaquestion,I'dliketoknowbeforeyouanswerwhetheryou'regoingtobetruthful."

escannersarehugeandthereforenotportable,andaslightshakeofthehead–letaloneoutrightrefusaltobescanned–candisrupttheprocedure

PeoplesayfMRIisexpensive,"Farocontinues,"butwhat'sthecostofasix-monthjurytrial?Andwhat'sthecosttoAmericaformissingaterrorist?

We'rereallypushingthepositivesideofthis,"Huizengasays."Butthisisacompany–we'reheretomakemoney.

ThesciencebehindfMRIliedetectionhasmaturedwithastonishingspeed

Butthereismoreactivityonthedeceptionscans,asifmymindhadtoworkhardertogeneratethefictitiousnarrative.Crucially,theareasofmybrainassociatedwithemotion,conflict,andcognitivecontrol–theamygdala,rostralcingulate,caudate,andthalamus–were"hot"whenIwaslyingbut"cold"whenIwastellingthetruth.

I'maloneagainintheprivacyofmythoughts

Whatapolygraphactuallymeasuresisthestressoftellingalie

ecollections are among our most precious assets. Maybe false memories can be just as precious

our personalities would no longer be genuine, our life decisions no longer truly ours.

So, just putting false thoughts into someone's thoughts(sic)does not seem nearly as invasive or potentially harmful.

One worry is that memory implants would rob us of our free will and sense of identity

And in a separate Pew poll published this July, 23% of American adults said it would be morally acceptable to surgically implant devices in healthy people’s brains to improve their cognitive abilities

In fact, whereas 41% of respondents said it would generally be unacceptable for a therapist to treat them in this way if they were obese, 48% said that it would beacceptable

The therapist, however, would only reveal their deception many months after the therapy was complete

Without this client’s knowledge, the therapist would attempt to plant false childhood events in the client’s memory –events designed to change the client’s unhealthy relationship with fatty foods.

have tackled their clients’ psychological troubles by manipulating their memories. Asking ourselves whether this kind of intervention is justifiable,

Could planting ‘beneficial’ false memories be the next big thing for tacklingobesity, or myriad other health complaints from fear of the dentist to depression

false memory could have positive effects on your life.

it isn’t too far-fetched in principle that somebody could deliberately give you a false memory

, memory researchers have known for decades that our recollections of the past are often inaccurate

and that sometimes we remember entire events that never happened at all

memory researchers have known for decades that our recollections of the past are often inaccurate

Suppose, for example, that some well-intentioned person could have deliberately planted a vivid false memory of this fictional event in your consciousness

My present character is different from my ten-year-old character. However, both belong to my identical life, which is why I have numerical identity.

Liv-ing with painful memories and learning lessons from these painful memories are part of our well-being

Because of these effects, propranolol is regarded as a memory erasing drug

If seeking happiness is a common dream of all human beings

ultimate human desire.

If we modify thesememories, we might deprive ourselves of the opportunityto learn how we might act in similar circumstances in thefuture

Ultimately, the point of using memory modification formost of us will be to enhance our personal well-being

might face unpleasant surprises upon learningevidence of his past,

n practice we are still some distance awayfrom being able to achieve this, but it does not seemunreasonable to think that within the next decade wewill be able to control the erasing of memory

Such research raises hope for treatingconditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)

For instance, if someonehas been abused, he would still feel a sense of unease if he met the abuseragain, even if the memory had been “deleted,”

that memories could not just be disrupted, but pinpointedand deleted entirely

“Changing or losing memories could make you happier or sadderdepending on if you’re losing sad or happy memories.

lives are complex

“Our memories and our experiences are fundamental to our personhood, toour lives, to everything that makes us who we are,” said Dr. Judy Illes, professorof neurology and Canada research chair in neuoroethics at the University ofBritish Columbia. “When you pull one brick out of the wall of memories, manyother memories go with it. Memories are incredibly interlocked with oneanother.”

Manyexperts believe that to disrupt one memory runs the risk of disrupting everything.

To do away with our memories is to do awaywith the past, and to do away with the past is to do away with the present.

then to delete our memories would be to destroy apart of ourselves.

value of a memory

Such a finding raises serious questions, not least of which is: Should we betampering with our memories?

electroshock treatment were significantly worse atremembering details from the stories than those who were either anesthetizedor given no treatment at all.

That’s to say, memories were partially, and in some cases almost entirely,erased from participants who underwent ECT

schizophrenia, mania, and catatonia.

A common perception of ECT is that it is an antiquated and gruesometreatment,

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) i

electroshock therapy

physical pain couldbring her to orgasm

Butit wasn’t until Sigmund Freud came along that electroshock therapy took on itsmore modern form

Couldcriminals be given the option, as an alternative to prison, of a drug-releasing implant that would make them less likely to harm others?

“morality pill”

If continuing brain research does in fact show biochemicaldifferences between the brains of those who help others and thebrains of those who do not, could this lead to a “morality pill”

Evenwhen the free rats could eat up all of a quantity of chocolate beforefreeing the trapped rat, they mostly preferred to free their cage-mate. The experimenters interpret their findings as demonstratingempathy in rats.

Why are some people prepared to risk their lives to help a strangerwhen others won’t even stop to dial an emergency number?

Yet people can, and often do, behave in very different ways.

Last October, in Foshan, China, a 2-year-old girl was run over by avan. The driver did not stop. Over the next seven minutes, morethan a dozen people walked or bicycled past the injured child. Asecond truck ran over her.

It is comparatively easy to cause great harm, much easier than to benefit to thesame extent.

First, it is, as arule, much easier to harm than to benefit.

only be effected if significant scientific advances were made

we may already be too smart for our owngood,

Criminality has been linked to MAO mutation on the X chromosome, especiallywhen coupled with social deprivation

Cognitive enhancement will reduce the incidence of such failures and willthereby increase the probability that we do what we should do.44 We are more likely tosucceed in doing what we ought to do if, owing to cognitive enhancement, it is easierfor us to retrieve available information and to rationally process it

Too little gratitude may provoke anger and aggression inbenefactors rather than further favours; too much anger in response to aggressors mayspark off an escalation of violence rather than simply deterrence of future violence, andtoo little anger might not be a sufficient deterrent; the same is true of too little andtoo much forgiveness

Racial differences signify lack of kinship

Since we can hardly intentionally retrace our cognitive steps

He argued that humanity still faced extinction,

mental energy borders on mood enhancement

ego depletion

Enriched rearing environments have been found to increase brain developmentand improve cognition.17 There is evidence that another class of drugs (cholinestraseinhibitors) slow cognitive decline18 in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease by producinga more robust and plastic neural structure

Genetic memory enhancement has been demonstrated in rats and mice.

your cognitive enhancement is likely to be bad news forothers, just as their cognitive enhancement is likely to be bad news for you, since itwill undercut the boost of your prudential success or well-being that your cognitiveenhancement by itself promises

What is prudentially good for you may, however, be prudentially bad for other

Cognitive enhancement is prudentially goodfor you when it makes you more proficient in pursuing your individual prudential endsand helps you ensure that your individual ends are internally consistent and

A skill is any existing ability, learned or not.

If an employee isqualified for a position, but in need of an accommodationto perform his job, the employer must offer a reasonableaccommodation for that employee.

One of the earliest of those exceptions is the Fair LaborStandards Acts of 1938 (FLSA), which provides protec-tions for overtime pay and wage standards.

Is shebeing unfair?

Group loyalty

The types of neurointerventions that are possible varywidely, but in general we can think of them falling intothree categories: observational, scalable, and existentialneurointerventions.

While skills and the capability for learning more skillsare typically the more explicit qualities that employers lookfor, less obvious traits such as attitudes and moral characterare often crucial aspects of job performance.

‘‘Capability’’ is sometimes used synonymouslywith ‘‘ability’’ but the term connotes not simply what one isable to currently do but what one is ableto learn to do.2It

While the purpose of thisresearch has often been to understand brain function better,the ability to alter mental states and behaviors, evenwithout understanding how those alterations work, hascaptured the attention of those interested in changingthemselves and others.

She tells Zach that she has regularly usedsuch techniques before and assures him and thecompany that she will continue to do so

Before Zach continues, however, Alice says that onething people increasingly do in order to perform well atthis kind of job is make use of certain performanceenhancer

So, Alice would have

We do not recommend a specific moral judg-ment but instead introduce the issues

Neurotechnology

nars, and skills training. Employees have also long usedtechniques for making themselves more competitive andproductive for purposes of securing new positions or pro-motions.

Finally, it should be noted that all forms of enhancementbased on neurostimulation look, at present, extremely promising,although they still present risks.

Mind Reading and Privac

ndividual’s learning rate

Brain-activity recording technologies can be used to improvetraining.

Situation awarenes

involvement of working memory

Individual Decision Making

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an invasive brain-stimulationtechnology widely used for the treatment of movement (e

lectroconvulsive therapy

herefore, cognitiveaugmentation research on humans with invasive technologieshas been so far very limited and carried out with individualswho have implanted devices for other clinical reasons

The most popular non-invasive technologies for recording neuralactivity are electroencephalography (EEG), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), functional magnetic resonanceimaging (fMRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Particularly, we consider human enhancement applications inthe areas of communication, cognitive enhancement, memory,decision making, attention monitoring/enhancement, situationawareness, social interactions, and complex problem solving.

Human enhancementrefers to a very broad range of techniques and approaches aimedataugmenting body or cognitive functions, through performance-enhancing drugs, prosthetics,medical implants, human-computer teaming, etc., that resultin improved characteristics andcapabilities, sometimes beyond the existing human range

Human enhancementrefers to a very broad range of techniques and approaches aimedataugmenting body or cognitive functions, through performance-enhancing drugs, prosthetics,medical implants, human-computer teaming,

And that's a real question, the question of whether I should keep hammering away at the things that I do and try to do them better, or whether I should make some kind of radical change and go into some new area, or a diversity of areas, and I think that if the technologies we're talking about are developed it's going to add to the scope of that kind of choice, and I think that's probably a good thing

large amounts of people feel this pressure to use a drug even though they would prefer not to do it, and it's happening in a kind of unregulated context as it is now (with Adderall) and many people may be led to set aside reasonable worries about bad side effects because of this pressure, this soft coercion you're talking about.

Cognitive enhancement is something that's relatively easy for people to understand, because it's easier for people to see what's controversial about it because it's easier to see what counts as a boost in cognitive performance.

moral enhancements

At present we don't know enough about the connections between intelligence and personality to know how serious a risk that is but I think it's a risk worth considering.

So if that's the direction that we go, there might be very serious problems of inequality.

summit of perfection

human nature

Yes, in one sense we might say that it's part of human nature to strive to improve our capacities.

Part of your response to that argument, if I understand it correctly, has been to say that the drive toward enhancement is actually very much a part of human nature.

Last week I spoke with Buchanan at length about the ethics of deep brain stimulation, the history of cognitive enhancement, and what a world of cognitively enhanced human beings might look like.

smart pills

Of course, not everyone is convinced that the technology will pan out. Some remainskepticalof TDCS,

"artificially"

“I’m talking about being able to take on twice the responsibility, work twice as fast, write more effectively, manage better, be more attentive, devise better and more creative strategies.”

Suppose you’re preparing for the SAT, or going for a job interview —in those situations where you have to perform on that day, these drugs will be very attractive,

were more likely to use the drugs as study aids and bring along those habits as they moved up the ladder

I think the analogy with sports doping is really misleading, because in sports it’s all about competition, only about who’s the best runner or home run hitter,”

Among high school students, abuse of prescription medications is second only to cannabis use.”

misuse and abus

The original purpose of medicine is to heal the sick, not turn healthy people into gods.”

Some argue that such use could be worse, given the potentially deep impact on society. And the behavior of academics

considered moreeffective

dozen of their colleagues had admitted to regular use of prescription drugs like Adderall, a stimulant, and Provigil, which promoteswakefulness, to improve their academic performance

dozen of their colleagues had admitted to regular use of prescription drugs like Adderall, a stimulant, and Provigil, which promoteswakefulness, to improve their academic performance.

“If one assaults a woman, even unintentionally, and her child is born prematurely, he must pay the value of the child to the husband and the compensation for injury and pain to the woman

he unborn fetus is not legally a person and, therefore, there is no question of murder involved when a fetus

When men fight and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other misfortune ensues, the one responsible shall be fined as the woman’s husband may exact from him, the payment to be based on judges’ reckoning. But if other misfortune ensues, the penalty shall be life for life.

An unborn fetus in Jewish law is not considered a person (Heb.nefesh,lit. “soul”) until it has been born.

They can look in a mirror

Dolphins had a sense of self which could be tested bythe way they recognise themselves in mirrors, sheadded

a lot of intelligence and complexity to not onlybeing an enormous brain but an enormous brain withan enormous amount of complexity, and a complexitythat rivals our own.