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152 • Cyborg Mind
some individuals to reflect what they felt were their ‘true’ identities as never
before.222 For certain persons with various forms of disability,223 such as
autism and muscular dystrophy, being online or having an avatar was the first
time, they believed they could be seen by others as ‘normal’ human beings.
Similarly, some people who may feel shy, lonely or less attractive may dis-
cover that they can socialise more successfully and express themselves more
freely online.224
The 2009 American science-fiction film Avatar, directed by the Canadian
James Cameron, set in the mid twenty-second century on a distant moon,
recounts the story of a disabled man who can remotely control, through his
mind, the synthetic body of a native avatar, which he uses to interact with
the real natives. Slowly, however, this man begins to prefer living through his
avatar, which seems a lot more interesting and attractive to him than his ‘real’
world.
Creating new identities online therefore allows people to find out how
they might act/react in different situations and settings, or they may want to
escape and discover new prospects if they are trapped in a real harsh reality.
However, they may then find that they prefer their new virtual lives.
Dominance of Certain Online Identities
In the 1969 book To Live Again written by the American author Robert
Silverberg, an entire worldwide economy is developed around the buying and
selling of ‘souls’ (personal lives that have been tape-recorded at six-month
intervals). This allows rich consumers to bid against each other for the oppor-
tunity to upload into their minds the most recent recordings of archived
personalities. But federal law prevents people from buying a ‘personality
recording’ unless the owner has died; similarly, two or more buyers are not
allowed to own a ‘share’ of the same persona.
Such stories are mirrored, in part, in the real experiences of persons
suffering from psychosis, where one identity seems to dominate another.
Individuals hear voices that are often deprecating and have a negative impact
on their health and wellbeing. Similarly, if a number of identities were pres-
ent together in virtual reality, it might be possible for a dominant identity
to take precedence, which could have a very negative impact on the other
identities. But again, this will be examined more in depth in the context of
network consciousness or hive minds in a later section.
Blurring of Online and Offline Identities
Another ethical problem that could arise is that the distinction between
online and offline identities could become blurred. This was considered in
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Cyborg Mind
What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics
- Title
- Cyborg Mind
- Subtitle
- What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics
- Author
- Calum MacKellar
- Publisher
- Berghahn Books
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-1-78920-015-7
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.9 cm
- Pages
- 264
- Keywords
- Singularity, Transhumanism, Body modification, Bioethics
- Category
- Technik
Table of contents
- Chapter 1. Why Use the Term ‘Cyberneuroethics’? 9
- Chapter 2. Popular Understanding of Neuronal Interfaces 25
- Chapter 3. Presentation of the Brain–Mind Interface 31
- Chapter 4. Neuronal Interface Systems 43
- Developments in Information Technology 44
- Developments in Understanding the Brain 45
- Developments in Neuronal Interfaces 46
- Procedures Involved in Neuronal Interfaces 47
- Output Neuronal Interface Systems: Reading the Brain and Mind 49
- Input Neuronal Interface Systems: Changing the Brain and Mind 57
- Feedback Systems of the Brain and Mind 67
- Ethical Issues Relating to the Technology of Neuronal Interfaces 84
- Chapter 5. Cyberneuroethics 99
- Chapter 6. Neuronal Interfaces and Policy 217
- New Cybercrimes 218
- Policy Concerns 223
- Conclusion 229
- Human Autonomy 232
- Resistance to Such a Development 234
- Risks of Neuronal Interfaces 234
- Appendix. Scottish Council on Human Bioethics Recommendations on
- Cyberneuroethics 239
- Glossary 244
- Index 251