The battle for your brain : defending the right to think freely in the age of neurotechnology

The battle for your brain Defending the right to think freely in the age of neurotechnology

Nita A. Farahany

Book - 2023

"A rock star academic explores the final frontier of personal privacy: your mind. Imagine a world where your brain can be interrogated to learn your political beliefs, thought crimes are punishable by law, and your own feelings can be used against you. Where perfumers create customized fragrances to perfectly suit your emotions, and social media titans bypass your conscious mind to hook you to their products. A world where people who suffer from epilepsy receive alerts moments before a seizure, and the average person can peer into their own mind to eliminate painful memories or cure addictions. Neuroscience has already made all of the above possible today, and neurotechnology will soon become the "universal controller" for al...l of our interactions with technology. This can benefit humanity immensely, but without safeguards, it can severely threaten our fundamental human rights to privacy, freedom of thought, and self-determination. Companies, governments, and militaries are all in: from contemplative neuroscience to consumer-based EEG technology, there have never been more ways to hack and track our brains. But access is just the beginning. Our brains can be changed with performance-boosting drugs, electrical stimulation, and even surgical interventions. Soon neuro-cinema, neuro-monitoring, and even cognitive warfare will be commonplace-the brain is the next battleground for humanity. The Battle for Your Brain by Nita A. Farahany dives deeply into the promises and perils of the coming dawn of brain access and alteration. Written by one of the world's foremost experts on neuroscience as it intersects with law and ethics, this highly original book offers a pathway forward to navigate the complex ethical dilemmas that neurotechnology presents, which will fundamentally impact our freedom to understand, shape, and define ourselves"--

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Subjects
Neurosciences > Moral and ethical aspects > Popular works.
Neurotechnology (Bioengineering) > Moral and ethical aspects > Popular works.
Neurosciences > Moral and ethical aspects.
Popular works.
Genres
Popular works
Published
New York : St. Martin's Press 2023.
Language
English
Main Author
Nita A. Farahany (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
277 pages ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-261) and index.
ISBN
9781250272959
  • Introduction
  • Part I. Tracking the Brain
  • 1. The Last Fortress
  • 2. Your Brain at Work
  • 3. Big Brother Is Listening
  • 4. Know Thyself
  • Part II. Hacking the Brain
  • 5. Revving Up
  • 6. Braking the Brain
  • 7. Mental Manipulation
  • 8. Bewilder beasts
  • 9. Beyond Human
  • 10. On Cognitive Liberty
  • Aknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Farahany (The Impact of Behavioral Sciences on Criminal Law), a law and philosophy professor at Duke University, delivers a levelheaded examination of neurotechnology, a "catchall term for gadgets that connect human brains to computers" or process the data transmitted between the two. Farahany contends that these devices, which range from Fitbits to neural chips, offer reason for hope and caution. She notes that technological innovations show promise for extending the human lifespan, restoring sight to blind people, and even communicating telepathically (one experiment successfully used a "brain--computer interface" to route visual information from two participants to a third in a different room). However, such technology presents ethical risks, she cautions, pointing out a school in China that required some students to wear EEG headsets to monitor their engagement and warning that corporate studies on suggestibility during sleep indicate that sleep tracking devices constitute an invasive new frontier for advertising. She advocates for establishing a right to "cognitive liberty--the right to self-determination over our brains and mental experiences." The author's evenhanded approach is a refreshing reprieve from the dystopian pessimism that often accompanies discussions of these technologies, and the eye-popping examples show that the future may be closer than many assume. Readers will be enthralled. (Mar.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

With the brain already subject to alteration via performance-boosting drugs or electrical stimulation, neurotechnology looks to be the next bold, bright horizon. But what if your brain could be plumbed to determine your political beliefs and thought crimes could get you imprisoned? Duke University professor Farahany examines the ethics of neuroscience; with a 60,000-copy first printing.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

An unsettling warning that "personal neurotech devices," now carried by 1 in 5 Americans, will soon expose our innermost thoughts to the world. Studies show that most users are happy to allow access to findings from their smartwatches, fitness trackers, and electronic sensors in exchange for modest benefits: discounts, entertainment, personal statistics, etc. Farahany, a professor of law and philosophy at Duke, finds this unnerving. However, she is no prophet of doom, pointing out that startups are creating plenty of useful devices. Thousands of truck and train drivers wear SmartCaps that monitor brain waves, informing them (and their bosses) if they are sleepy or distracted. Future wearables will forewarn epileptics of a seizure, detect early signs of brain disease such as Alzheimer's, and perhaps enhance mental powers. Unfortunately, nothing in the Constitution or any U.S. or international law gives individuals sovereignty over their minds. "With our DNA already up for grabs and our smartphones broadcasting our every move," writes the author, "our brains are increasingly the final frontier for privacy." Relying heavily on John Stuart Mill and admirable if unenforceable U.N. statements on human freedom, Farahany casts a gimlet eye on current neurotechology, an exuberant field led by China, whose government's obsession with an obedient citizenry is producing Orwellian electronics that American startups ignore at their peril. Traditional biometrics (fingerprints, facial IDs) can be faked, but wearable brain biometrics can accurately identify and monitor individuals over time. Popular drugs such as Adderall enhance brain function, but external devices that feed back brain waves, as well as implantable electrodes, work better. Will it be cheating to use them? Farahany delivers the pros and cons. Less pertinent to her thesis is her investigation of transhumanism, a flourishing movement that aims to push humans into the "next stage" of evolution by overcoming aging and death and supercharging brains to compete with AI and uploading them to computers to achieve immortality. An occasionally scattershot yet insightful report. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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