Page - 149 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

Cyberneuroethics • 149 into the brains of other men or women having a sexual relationship and live the same pleasurable experiences, which could have huge implications for the sex industry. It may even be possible for a single person to experience, for the first time, both the male and female orgasms. However, the use of such robotic, virtual or human surrogates may have very important consequences in relation to how a person may consider his or her own identity. Thus, neuronal interfaces should be carefully considered in terms of their impact on identity and the associated, anthropological, social, ethical and psychological questions that arise. Online Identities As already noted, many people now spend a substantial proportion of their waking lives online or interacting with the digital environment, and future generations may experience even less of real life than was the case before the advent of computers. In recent years, social networking has expanded to include professional networking sites and other forms of expressions such as blogging, Twitter, avatars, gaming, personal webpages or membership of various Internet discussion groups. Mobile technologies are playing a role in driving change, with new formats and applications (apps) being launched to run on smartphones. This may mean that the notion of computers being separate from people is changing, since many individuals now keep a per- sonal networked computer, in the form of their smartphone, with them all the time.204 Online platforms are also being changed both radically and rapidly in a proliferation of communication technologies that can be described as a ‘poly-media’ environment.205 Individuals now use different appliances simul- taneously or to complement one another.206 Identities across online support systems may be broadly similar or may shift in emphasis, such as from a pro- fessional to a social identity, and shift between media, such as text messaging versus face-to-face conversations via a webcam. The poly-media environment also requires an individual’s identity to per- form different functions at different times in a digital networked world, such as when a person uses an online bank, makes purchases from an online retail website or participates in social media.207 It is difficult to speculate on the likely impact of growing hyper- connectivity on identity. People may find it harder to disconnect themselves or to maintain distinct identities in different situations. The increasingly networked state of many people’s lives could blur the boundaries between online and offline identities, as well as between work and social identities. The advent of widespread mobile technology and email has also led to an increasing number of persons remaining connected to their work during 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.