While reading through @extie-dasilva's ultra-dense post, The Singularity And The Web for some reason I was reminded of the most bizarre evening of my life: the night I spent inside a cult in California some years ago.
The cult was a 12 Tribes Community and it is filed in my brain as one of those "never again" experiences.
This particular cult was located right outside of Oceanside, CA and here's their website. Now come the cult highlights, condensed for fast comsumption:
Upon entrance to the 12 Tribes Cult property, we were greeted then delivered to a receiving area, where I was separated from my boyfriend.
Sex segregation practices were in full-swing there. They didn't like the fact that I had my pet cat with me, but they sort of tolerated this. I was stripped of my real name and given an Old Hebrew-sounding name which was to be used from that moment onwards. We then were seated in a dining hall and had the most amazing meal of grilled fish with vegetables, homemade bread and lemonade served to us, all free of charge. The girls surrounding me seemed intent on trying to make me feel comfortable. I felt that I was being psychologically screened.
After dinner, the cult members formed into a circle and began doing step-like dances, all holding hands and chanting some religious song.
It was like the kind you would see at some sort of German festival. It definitely freaked me out. All the women wore plain long dresses and the men also wore plain-looking clothes. Everyone had strange-sounding names like Jezweh, Saraij and the like. Here's a real photo from the cult's website and these were the same people who were at the one we stayed at:
Simultaneously, while I was thinking about that bizarre night inside a cult, I was bombarded by the thought of neural lace and how Elon Musk wants someone to develop this new technology so he can become the first real cyborg to walk the earth.
Here's neural lace as Gizmodo reported about it back in 2015:
A group of chemists and engineers who work with nanotechnology published a paper this month in Nature Nanotechnology about an ultra-fine mesh that can merge into the brain to create what appears to be a seamless interface between machine and biological circuitry. Called “mesh electronics,” the device is so thin and supple that it can be injected with a needle — they’ve already tested it on mice, who survived the implantation and are thriving. The researchers describe their device as “syringe-injectable electronics,” and say it has a number of uses, including monitoring brain activity, delivering treatment for degenerative disorders like Parkinson’s, and even enhancing brain capabilities.
I wrote about neural lace for Interesting Engineering and here's an excerpt from my article:
The reason Musk keeps mentioning neural lace is because I believe he may want to speed up becoming a cyborg. Just imagine how many more companies he could found if he were a cyborg? With neural lace, he could probably harness his dream and subconscious energies, thereby transforming latent energies into productive output. I think Elon Musk would make an excellent cyborg, but I shudder when I think about people with harmful intentions becoming digitally enhanced.
Basically, Elon Musk said in that Recode video that he would immediately become a customer of a company who dedicated resources to developing neural lace. But he admitted that it wouldn't be able to be pulled off by just anyone. He basically said that he would have to start up such a company to ensure that it was done properly.
So, while the whole world was obsessing over whether we are in a simulation or not, I was intrigued by the idea of neural lace and how that technology would work. I am curious if the neural lace will have the ability to be removed or not. If it's not removable, how would one effectively "unplug"? Or would "unplugging" not even be an option at that point and the cyborgization be complete?
Is anyone currently working on the neural lace technology?
Speaking of neural lace, how many of you would like to be a cyborg?
I think that becoming a cyborg would make me a better person and I would gain more control over my organically created emotion states. I think emotion states can be useful, but I believe they are often detrimental to clear thinking. Without our limbic system controlling our moods, reactions and states of mind, I think humanity could move forward in several areas. Limbic systems record pain and alter the course of the future based on pain programming. The Removal of Painful Memories as a Service ............Well, I could see a clinic for this type of service in the future. I think even I would sign up for that service. There are some memories that cease to serve any purpose, after one loses years of decent living due to the painful memory.
However, this is a slippery slope because I believe it is pain and hardship that form the foundation of empathy.
Machines don't experience pain. Without empathy, I think our world would be grey, cold and completely lacking in sanity. The emptiness of controlled life, with no mysteries, surprises or kind gestures left, that is what a world without empathy would be like.
This kind of perspective-shifting mindset is one that I have noticed recently fighting for space in my own brain. It's something I personally struggle with daily: emotion vs. logic. The thing that makes us all human is emotion, but it's a bad thing to base motivations and decisions on. Once you begin to understand that emotion exists in waves, you can start to separate yourself from them to a certain extent. It's not easy though because our very selves exist in a sea of chemicals, feelings and random thoughts, all conspiring together in such a way to bring about an action, reaction, or a move of sorts.
So what does neural lace and cults have in common?
Technology has come a long ways, but the ability for humans to live among each other in harmony is sorely lacking.
Even cults cannot properly exercise a balance between individual will and peaceful coexistence. Our minds and societies have not caught up with the technological innovations that surround us. The war for resources rages on.
