New 'thinking cap' technologies that control weaponry 'a step closer'

The Telegraph ^ | 3/1/2012 | The Telegraph

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Researchers believe that new "thinking caps", could help provide super-human strength, highly enhanced concentration or thought-controlled weaponry.

A British ethics group is investigating the ethical dilemmas posed by inventions that interfere with the brain's inner workings.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCB) has launched a consultation on the risks posed by such new technologies, the global market for which it says is worth $8bn (£5bn) and "growing fast.

With the prospect of future conflicts between armies controlling weapons with their minds, the Council, an independent body, is wanting to identify what issues that come with blurring the lines between humans and machines.

Applications range from medicine to warfare and even human enhancement while some techniques such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) are already used by thousands of patients.

The consultation will look at whether having decisions affected by a computer chip in the brain could lead to a sense of diminished responsibility amongst users.

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I support this technology. The fusion of man and machine. Heck, I would like to volunteer.

[HiTech RedNeck]

But then your wife will be asking whether that’s really you or just the chip in your thinking cap.

[U-238]

I would ask those chips to be EMP-proof though.

[chopperman]

Don’t sneeze.

[catman67]

Researchers believe that new "thinking caps", could help provide super-human strength, highly enhanced concentration or thought-controlled weaponry...

Yes, but will it provide "male enhancement"?

[KarlInOhio]

You must think in javascript to fly it.

[rbg81]

Just wait till you can stream porn directly into your brain while sitting at your desk. Or, taking it a step further, experience sex through a remote proxy.

It will be the end of civilization as we know it.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Please, PLEASE don’t give Obama a “thinking cap” to control our armed forces. Can you imagine such a tool in the hands of in incompetent who cannot think? All our soldiers would crumple to the ground, flailing around helplessly.