Tech-Telepathy: It Already Exists

When considering which of the many topics dealing with future technologies to write about first, it came to mind that it may be best to go for the jugular; without a doubt in my mind, I would say that the invention of telepathy is the most immediate major advancement that will rock the foundations of our society. We look around us and see a world increasingly integrated with the internet and social media - with media and instant global communication. If you are reading this article, it is likely that you have thought about the awe and wonder of what the internet has accomplished in a span of twenty years.

You ain't seen nothin' yet, folks.

WIRED Magazine published an article earlier this year that discusses the United States Military's work on producing telepathy through cybernetics. Here is an excerpt from the article, which is posted below to read in full:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/05/pentagon-preps-soldier-telepathy-push

"The agency[Darpa]’s budget for the next fiscal year includes $4 million to start up a program called Silent Talk. The goal is to “allow user-to-user communication on the battlefield without the use of vocalized speech through analysis of neural signals.” That’s on top of the $4 million the Army handed out last year to the University of California to investigate the potential for computer-mediated telepathy."

So, we know that the Government is spending $8million this year to research the use of partially-invasive BCIs (Brain-Computer-Interfaces) for the military purposes of telepathic communication and spying. For those of you unfamiliar with BCI technology, it has existed since the 1970s; an example of non-invasive BCI technology would be your standard medical MRI. The difference between a non-invasive BCI and a partially-invasive BCI is that partially-invasive BCIs are implanted outside of the grey matter of the brain, but beneath the skull, in order to send/receive a stronger signal without the interference of a thick cranium.

But telepathy will not stop with simple thought recognition/sharing; it will become fully integrated with the internet, and yes, even our sight. Perhaps some of you have heard of the new Eyetooth (or similar) technology? It is the most cutting-edge technology that exists to fight blindness; yes, we have now successfully cured complete blindness. If you want to watch an amazing video showing off this technology, refer to the video link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4vE7QlbVak




How impressed are you with your iPhone? There are already computers, like the one in the picture above, that are the same size as your favorite sparkly cell phone. What is our obsession with shrinking the size of the device in which we utilize computers and the internet?

Because in the future, a more advanced version of the Eyetooth-styled technology will allow us to visually "switch" into a computer mode that could either be wirelessly activated from your phone (or other tiny device) and controlled with the very BCI technology that many scientists are improving in preparation for the telepathic push. So, where are we with this technology now? How long will it be until the way that we communicate is more telepathic than verbal? When is our entire world going to be turned on its head (again)?

Sooner than you think.

Below is an excerpt from an article at www.textually.org:

"Staff at the Japanese technology giant Hitachi have already succeeded in harnessing the power of thought to make a model train move and believe it is only a matter of time before the same technology can be applied to the TV remote. The technique, known as optical topography, reads thoughts by measuring changes in blood flow to key areas of the brain."

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The good news: You will be able to communicate instantly with anyone you wish, at any time. You will be able to change the "channel" with your thoughts. Hell, you can even play with remote control toys with your thoughts.

The bad news: How concerned are you with privacy invasion (love you too, Google)? Trojans and computer viruses? Government tracking? How tied are you to living part of your life off-line and away from Social Media? How involved are you with tradition? The world is driving full-force to global integration - and the internet is the engine in which everything we have become accustomed to will change.

As I wrote in the first article of this new blog, you really only have two choices presented to you when looking towards the future: adapt, or be miserable. We are sitting on the edge of the most amazing evolutional leap in technology that our species has ever seen - and looking further than twenty or thirty years into the future is nearly impossible because of how fast our technology is growing. You will see technological telepathy and it will be a common-place part of your (and my) lives, unless one makes the conscious decision to reject it and live more naturally; of course, rejecting what will be the most amazing advancement that our society has ever seen up to the point of its inception will put you at a competitive disadvantage in a world that is increasingly competitive and cut-throat.

My suggestion? Read up on optical topography, brain-computer-interfaces, Eyetooth advancements and other technologies that I will attempt to bring to light through my writing. Be wise to the future, enjoy the present for what it is - and be ready to make a decision about how much you are willing to adapt. Change is coming.

Namaste, to all of my I-Friends.

In the Year 2525

For having been the most popular song in the year 1969, I am always amazed by how many people have never heard Zager and Evans' eerie, slightly prophetic song, 'In the Year 2525'. I was listening to this the other day while writing some scripts for a friend's MUD (another question, another entry); the result was that I organized the many daily thoughts that I have on the implications of the rapid growth in technology that we have come to take as commonplace in our every day lives. After looking at my notes, scribbled in my shoddy handwriting (after all, I grew up attached to a keyboard), I decided that perhaps it was time for me to start up a blog.

Aha! A novel idea! A blog, that I could then attach to Facebook, Twitter, Digg - and every other Social Media site that has become as integrated into my life as walking across the street to go to the store. I could then go on to write about some of the more alarming technological advances (optical implants, nanotechnology aimed at reversing aging, universal WiFi, robotics, etc); and more importantly, I could talk about what the media so very often does not delve into when reporting on such niche topics - the realistic implications on your (and my) daily lives.

For today, let's take a look at the lyrics from that great Zager and Evans song, and see how we are keeping up with their proposed checklist to reach the Apocalypse:

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In the year 2525 ... if man is still alive ...
If woman can survive ... they may find ...
(Well, this is certainly undetermined. I can report that as of right now, while I smoke my last Parliament Full-Flavor, that mankind hasn't checked out quite yet.)

In the year 3535 - Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies ...
Everything you think, do and say - is in the pill you took today ...
(Zoloft is a hell of a drug, isn't it? Can't wait to see what they come out with next.)

In the year 4545 - Ain't gonna need your teeth (won't need your eyes) ...
You won't find a thing to chew ... nobody's going to look at you ...
(Well, we haven't gotten to the point where famine is curable by a food pill; however, it isn't really unthinkable, is it? And already, with the ever-increasing integration of internet and social media with our lives, our interaction with other human beings is becoming more filtered through a Third Party  - and less face-to-face - than ever before. Future articles will explore exactly how I believe that this will explode within the next ten-to-twenty years.)

In the year 5555 - your arms hanging limp at your side ...
Your legs got nothing to do - some machine's doin' that for you ...
(Well, we can already see that the song's prophecy is faulty, if only in that technology is moving a lot faster than those old hippy folk-singers could have imagined. Media integration and a solution to world hunger, coupled with the practical application of insanely advanced robotics that already exist - it is not hard to imagine a near-future where apathy could lead to physical atrophy.)

In the year 6565 - Ain't gonna need no husband, won't need no wife ...
You'll pick your sons, pick your daughters too ...
From the bottom of a long glass tube. Whoa-oh-oh ...
(Well, this is a confirmed hit! Does anyone else find it a little frightening that artificial insemination has grown to the point where you can get very specific with the traits you would like to see genetically instilled upon your children? It isn't mainstream, but with the continued devaluation of the family in our culture, I can definitely see a future where the richest of the rich pay for genetically superior children. I guess that I shouldn't have watched Gattaca when I was a kid; still, nothing to worry about, right? Move it along - don't fear change, don't fear the future - instead, embrace it, no matter how cold and rife with potential class domination it may seem to be.)

In the year 7510 ... If God's a-comin', he ought to make it by then ...
Maybe he'll look around himself and say,
"Guess it's time for the Judgement Day."


In the year 8510 ... God is gonna shake his mighty head ...
He'll either say, "I'm pleased where Man has been."
Or tear it down and start again ... whoa-oh-oh.
(For these two verses, I would have to wax religious and claim knowledge about something that is far beyond me. Still, these are maybe the most interesting lyrics of the song; it seems that Zager and Evans are suggesting that there is a cycle of evolution that spins out of control, only to be humbled by a force far greater than anything that evolution or our species can affect. Now, I don't know if that is true or not, but there is a lesson to be learned from the Dinosaurs here, from the great Empires of our history's past; it is that age old saying and it is more appropriate now than ever before ... "The bigger they are - the harder they fall.")

In the Year 9595 - I'm kinda wonderin' if man is gonna be alive
He's taken everything this old Earth can give ...
And he ain't put back nothin'.
(This is really the most damning sin that we, as a species, have committed; we devour resources so much in every little thing that we do, that we are the greatest threat to this planet and every species that lives on it - including ourselves, of course. I do not know that this can really be fixed at this point, though I believe firmly that it can - and should be - resisted. If new technology can do anything, it can find less harmful ways to draw upon the resources that we need for our continued growth.)

Now it's been ten thousand years - Man has cried a billion tears
For what? He never knew - now Man's reign is through ...
But through Eternal Night - the twinkling of starlight ...
So very far away ... maybe it's only yesterday ...
(After this, the song begins again from the beginning for several verses - until it fades out. Again, I think that the songwriters were suggesting that we are stuck in a loop, or pattern of sorts, that is destined to start again eventually. For such a depressing song, the idea of a constant future does do a little to provide a star-twinkling of hope.)

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Now, don't immediately paint me as some sort of conspiracy theorist or the like. Of course, this oldie is ripe with sensationalism; however, these are sensational times that we live in. If you are reading the blog, the chances are above average that you are aware of new technologies that are on the verge of arriving to the public. But how much do you (or I) really know about what is coming? How much have you thought about how something as simple as your iPhone may continue to advance and affect your life in even more profound ways than it already has? We are living on the verge of a great leap in human history; technology has built up at an exponential rate to the point that we are at right now, but it has only scratched the surface of what is possible. Every new technology that builds on old technology is reaching for the stars - an end to aging, curing impossible diseases, telepathy (if you don't believe me, make sure to read my next article), other-world colonization, genetic alteration, true robotics and Artificial Intelligence, the existence of Big Brother (hello Google - I hope that you had a good day today) ... and there is nothing that we can do but adapt or be miserable.

Adapting seems like the better option, eh? But that doesn't mean that anyone should be blind. I believe that my generation, and that is Generation X (barely), is going to be a generation of observers. The generations that come after us will likely buy into new technological candies very easily (and it's so easy!) Perhaps the best thing to do is to educate yourself, sit back with your movie-butter popcorn ... and enjoy the show. Maybe we'll even still be alive and kicking in 2525 to check in with Zager and Evans for their Reunion Tour.