Naudian
Tank
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2004
- Messages
- 4,803
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Michael Persinger, dude behind "the god helmet" gives a talk about consciousness and the possibility of reading people's minds. He asks what would happen if the mind became completely exposed to some kind of mind reading technology? Obviously that depends on who has control of the technology. But the way he frames the question is what would it be like if everyone had access to this abiltiy? What are the implications of having no more secrets?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l6VPpDublg
One person speculates the result being an "empathetic civilization," which sounds great because people could truly understand other's perspective within a short period of time. Instead of arguing or fighting, you could just read each other's thoughts and come to an understanding quickly and peacefully, so the idea goes. Hivemind civilization...weird to think about.
You basically have zero privacy, but since everyone understands each other, do you even need it anymore?
You have greatly reduced uniqueness or individuality, but is it gone completely? What would make you "you" in a hivemind scenario? Maybe your uniqueness would come from your ability to create new ideas, and creating new ideas is more or less a matter of integrating existing ideas, which could happen a lot faster in this situation. I guess if you really wanted to do something unique with your "self", you'd have to seek novelty, think the unthunk, experience the unexperienced, etc.
How do you personally feel about ceasing to be as you are and dissolving into something larger? Do you think this is what the future holds for humanity?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l6VPpDublg
One person speculates the result being an "empathetic civilization," which sounds great because people could truly understand other's perspective within a short period of time. Instead of arguing or fighting, you could just read each other's thoughts and come to an understanding quickly and peacefully, so the idea goes. Hivemind civilization...weird to think about.
You basically have zero privacy, but since everyone understands each other, do you even need it anymore?
You have greatly reduced uniqueness or individuality, but is it gone completely? What would make you "you" in a hivemind scenario? Maybe your uniqueness would come from your ability to create new ideas, and creating new ideas is more or less a matter of integrating existing ideas, which could happen a lot faster in this situation. I guess if you really wanted to do something unique with your "self", you'd have to seek novelty, think the unthunk, experience the unexperienced, etc.
How do you personally feel about ceasing to be as you are and dissolving into something larger? Do you think this is what the future holds for humanity?
