Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Developments in neuroscience
- 2 The origins of the modern concept of “neuroscience”
- 3 On the cusp
- 4 The mind-body issue
- 5 Personal identity and the nature of the self
- 6 Religious issues and the question of moral autonomy
- 7 Toward a cognitive neurobiology of the moral virtues
- 8 From a neurophilosophy of pain to a neuroethics of pain care
- 9 Transplantation and xenotransplantation
- 10 Neurogenetics and ethics
- 11 Neuroimaging
- 12 Can we read minds?
- 13 Possibilities, limits, and implications of brain-computer interfacing technologies
- 14 Neural engineering
- 15 Neurotechnology as a public good
- 16 Globalization: pluralist concerns and contexts
- 17 The human condition and strivings to flourish
- 18 The limits of neuro-talk
- Afterword
- Index
13 - Possibilities, limits, and implications of brain-computer interfacing technologies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Developments in neuroscience
- 2 The origins of the modern concept of “neuroscience”
- 3 On the cusp
- 4 The mind-body issue
- 5 Personal identity and the nature of the self
- 6 Religious issues and the question of moral autonomy
- 7 Toward a cognitive neurobiology of the moral virtues
- 8 From a neurophilosophy of pain to a neuroethics of pain care
- 9 Transplantation and xenotransplantation
- 10 Neurogenetics and ethics
- 11 Neuroimaging
- 12 Can we read minds?
- 13 Possibilities, limits, and implications of brain-computer interfacing technologies
- 14 Neural engineering
- 15 Neurotechnology as a public good
- 16 Globalization: pluralist concerns and contexts
- 17 The human condition and strivings to flourish
- 18 The limits of neuro-talk
- Afterword
- Index
Summary
INTRODUCTION
A major characteristic of the information era is the continuous increase in interconnectedness created by a worldwide electronic network: the Internet. Thus, through such electronic linkage, our minds move closely together even if spatially separated by thousands of miles. In this scenario the computer usually creates an interface between us and the digital world. An ultimate connectedness between our minds and the information pool of the Internet can be fantasized within a science fiction scenario as represented in the movie The Matrix. Brain–mind operation could be connected to a computer, which might afford an opportunity to enter a direct interaction with a virtual world. Such brain – machine interfaces would have to fulfill a two-directional task: one is to give the human user the opportunity to communicate with the system by sending signals to the computer (which can be achieved either by voluntary control of a computer, or by a computer's ability to engage and interpret our thoughts); the other is brain stimulation by a device in order to let us experience the virtual world. Whereas the first task attempts to replace the keyboard and mouse of a computer, the second tries to substitute the computer screen and audio system. Current multimedia consumer technology already offers great possibilities available in the modern home cinema. In terms of the information transfer rate of such visual and auditory stimulating systems, one should note that they require a far higher information flow compared with the control devices (e.g. mouse and keyboard) of a computer.
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- Information
- Scientific and Philosophical Perspectives in Neuroethics , pp. 271 - 282Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010