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Obama Administration planning project likened to Human Genome Project to map brain

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Mon, 2013-02-18 21:04

Dry Observer Dry Observer's picture

Obama Administration planning project likened to Human Genome Project to map brain

As noted in the Times... "The Obama administration is planning a decade-long scientific effort to examine the workings of the human brain and build a comprehensive map of its activity, seeking to do for the brain what the Human Genome Project did for genetics. "The project, which the administration has been looking to unveil as early as March, will include federal agencies, private foundations and teams of neuroscientists and nanoscientists in a concerted effort to advance the knowledge of the brain’s billions of neurons and gain greater insights into perception, actions and, ultimately, consciousness. "Scientists with the highest hopes for the project also see it as a way to develop the technology essential to understanding diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as to find new therapies for a variety of mental illnesses. "Moreover, the project holds the potential of paving the way for advances in artificial intelligence." http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/science/project-seeks-to-build-map-of-... You knew they weren't kidding when they named their fastest supercomputer "Titan."

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Tue, 2013-02-19 10:33

AllisonBW

I think this would actually

I think this would actually go in the Off Topic forum (where IRL transhuman stuff goes), but yes, this is a brilliant idea whose time has come, and I'm glad Obama's pushing for it.

Tue, 2013-02-19 16:42

Dry Observer Dry Observer's picture

I'm pretty sure I originally

I'm pretty sure I originally posted it in the Off Topic Forum, it actually showed up in the General Discussion Forum, and today seems to have migrated to Homebrew... which would be less ominous if there weren't any DIY biotech people out there wondering if they could play leapfrog with their own "homebrew" brain map/upload. =)

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Wed, 2013-02-20 00:03

OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture

that's awesome.

that's awesome. I thought this was old news; see the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Connectome_Project]human connectome progect[/url] I'm excited to see this get new money and other institutions involved.

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Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

Fri, 2013-02-22 16:46

Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture

Hmm, homebrew neurohackers.

Hmm, homebrew neurohackers. That sounds like an excellent source of plots. I had great fun thinking about the neurohacker underground in THS, but in Eclipse Phase they are a thousand times more powerful and disturbing. "Check out this! I have spliced together limbic systems to make a *really* happy infomorph." "Yech! Why in the world did you do that?" "Oh, I am going to sell the XP recordings. I got a bunch of nobodies from Mick, and he said he was interested in buying the result." "But Mick is from Nine Lives!" "Yeah, but he sells the best hippocampus bootlegs in the habitat. Besides, the XP isn't that interesting, just an addictive consciousness loop. Can't see any real use of it."

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Fri, 2013-02-22 19:19

OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture

Ooo! That bit of dialogue

Ooo! That bit of dialogue just gave me an idea for the "back alley psychosurgeon", a neurological equivalent to the back alley abortion doctor or the Mob doctor... now I just need to think of a use for one. What treatments would be proscribed or illegal? In which locales/factions could a psychosurgeon lose their license and have to resort to illegal practice? So far I'm thinking of; Patching up prostitutes with PTSD (or even just SV) for the L-LACO, Night cartel, Triads Perhaps criminals or firewall agents who've gotten stressed by thier jobs need therapy but can't go to a real shrink due to pesky reporting, denieability, and ethics issues. And thanks to AM i'm thinking that parting out personalities and boosting brain templates is the new organlegging.

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Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

Fri, 2013-02-22 23:19

Dry Observer Dry Observer's picture

Actually, if you consider

Actually, if you consider that *none* of our recorded human geniuses were genetically modified, few if any ever used nootropics or brain influencing/modifying technology (biofeedback, sensory deprivation, implants, etc) and probably close to zero were natural mutants... Well, then, the habits, personality traits and formative experiences of genius look like an incredibly rich and diverse vein of research. Simple intelligence, knowledge or skill does not necessarily lead to demonstrable genius, and even ethical but obsessed researchers would have plenty of volunteers ready to have their minds upgraded. Or simply turned inside out, just for the experience. Not to mention the research value. Or the pay.

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Sat, 2013-02-23 05:02

Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture

OneTrikPony wrote:What

OneTrikPony wrote:
What treatments would be proscribed or illegal? In which locales/factions could a psychosurgeon lose their license and have to resort to illegal practice?

Parents tweaking their children so they are more obedient, think the right way or do better in school. Or why not employers and spouses upgrading their partners with the right kind of behavioral control. Not all of it is abusive: some people think it would be a nifty idea to have an edit to become more committed to work or refrain from spilling gang secrets, and can't see why there is so many restrictions on doing that using the normal channels. But then there are the slavers who want really nasty obedience loops or mental pain triggers they can use, or virtual sweatshop owners who want to boost deep learning for their victims/employees... People on the run want behavioral masking to fool kinesics, and really desperate people want to fudge their brainprints. Interrogation and psychotorture is another obviously illegal activity. Or skill suppression on unwilling victims ("You conned us for the last time. You are never gonna pull the wool over anybody's eyes again!"). Unwilling treatment of mental disorders. Plus of course tasping - a lot of back alley brain hackers cater to the wireheads. Then there is the *fun* and experimental stuff. Mind-expansion by doing odd alterations. Splicing in new networks. I have a bundle of ideas at http://www.aleph.se/EclipsePhase/Neuralware.pdf http://www.aleph.se/EclipsePhase/Neural%20hacking.pdf http://www.aleph.se/EclipsePhase/Pathotronics.pdf These methods are often unsafe, undocumented and can produce really messy problems, so they are the domain of back-alley psychosurgeons or the mind modification subculture. I think the inner system and Titan have a fairly standard medical model for psychosurgery: you need to have a licence to do it, and you are subject to various regulations about reporting treatments, logging it in the ego metadata file, ethics, safety and so on. Some habitats have much stricter regulations, perhaps even demanding government (or owning hypercorp) oversight. The Republic of course regards psychosurgery as a state matter. Extropia has a totally free market: subscribe to the right lawcorp and none of the above is covered as a crime. However, if your victim has law and security they are likely to take exception: being edited against one's will is something everybody tends to frown on. Anybody can set up a psychosurgery clinic, but customers check rep quite a lot and it is a cutthroat business. Anarchists are probably the really tricky case. No rules, but if people get upset at what you do you will be seen as socially disruptive and "not a team player". So you better maintain your rep, keep a low profile, or stay with people who appreciate what you do. Some groups might find collectively mandated psychosurgery fine: if somebody is disruptive, then why not drag her over for a bit of social conditioning - it will be good for everybody. Exactly what is bad psychosurgery also shifts: there will be ideological overtones (individual enhancement at the price of cooperation: bad, weird self-experimentation: maybe good, altruism enhancement: a bit of a suck-up, but quite sensible).

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