Page - 112 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

112 • Cyborg Mind ‘spreading the message’ and allowing instant feedback and commentary.46 Recently, social media has been used to facilitate political movements such as the revolution in Tunisia in 2011 and in mobilising dissent in Egypt and Libya, though the extent of its influence in these countries has also been questioned.47 Responses to These New Technologies In 2012, a discussion article between the British scientist, writer and broad- caster Baroness Susan Greenfield and the Bulgarian writer, blogger and critic Maria Popova was published in the New York Times entitled: ‘Are We Becoming Cyborgs?’ This considered the relentless development in the use of the Internet, which had already reached one-third of all human beings on the planet, with the average amount of time spent online by all persons of the world representing about 16 hours per week and rising. Thus, human beings are continuing to change the way they interact and, as a result, their very characteristics as social beings.48 This means that as neuronal interface systems create new associations between the real and virtual worlds, ethical and anthropological questions can be asked in relation to whether they will eventually encourage a ‘dematerisalisation’ or even a ‘virtualisation’ of human life.49 Greenfield expressed concerns that the current electronic appliances were now dominant in the lives of children in contrast to other technologies. On this account, it was not the technologies in themselves that created anxiety, but the degree to which they were becoming a lifestyle rather than a means to improving a life. Human brains are exquisitely evolved to adapt to the environment in which they are placed. Greenfield notes that every hour spent sitting in front of a screen is an hour lost talking to someone or being outside in the sun- shine. She is concerned about how this may impact on social relationships arguing: ‘If virtual friends replace flesh-and-blood ones, we shall not need to learn social skills, not think about the unwanted and unpredictable reactions of others.’50 Popova, on the other hand, expressed unease about the tendency to con- flate information and knowledge, indicating that ultimately knowledge is an understanding of how different elements of information fit together. There is an element of correlation and interpretation. But while it is possible to automate the retrieving of knowledge, it may not be feasible to automate the making of moral decisions based on this knowledge and giving it meaning. However, at this stage, the consequences of neuronal interfaces on the cognition of a person may need to be examined. 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.