Seite - 184 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

184 • Cyborg Mind to assert his or her will upon others, though Nietzsche never clearly defined his concept.387 He indicated: My idea is that every specific body strives to become master over all space and to extend its force (its will to power) and to thrust back all that resists its exten- sion. But it continually encounters similar efforts on the part of other bodies and ends by coming to an arrangement (‘union’) with those of them that are sufficiently related to it: thus they then conspire together for power. And the process goes on.388 In summary, the communion of minds into a network consciousness could become the ultimate power (the ultimate Ultra-Human) that one meta- identity could have over many other identities if their free will remains. Alternatively, if the personal identities and free will of a number of individu- als are completely subsumed into an existing person or a totally new person (it may be difficult to ever be sure which alternative has taken place), then these original persons would cease to exist. Issues of Privacy Even though no consensus exists relating to a general definition of privacy, it can be described as a claim by persons to determine for themselves when, how and to what extent information about themselves can be communicated and used by others.389 Privacy is thus important in the context of the kind of relationships or interactions that a person has with people, places and things. People manage relationships with other people through selective disclosure of information, with any breaches in the management of such information having the poten- tial to undermine confidence in the system. Privacy is also about protecting persons from being controlled by others, since having knowledge and infor- mation about a certain individual (lack of privacy) can be associated with having a certain amount of power over this person. In addition, being able to communicate anonymously can be seen as a prerequisite for freedom of expression and can act as an important control mechanism to the abuse of power. For instance, anonymous bloggers can provide an alternative version of the message being presented without the danger of any negative repercussions to themselves.390 The manner in which new neuronal interfaces may be able to track and record an individual’s thought process may represent a fresh context within which to debate what constitutes private and public life. This is because the increased generation and storing of personal information and data has already proven to be a focus of concern with respect to privacy. For example, This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.