Page - 183 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

Cyberneuroethics • 183 the combined decisions of the group or the imposition of one mind over the others. Alternatively, the decisions could be the result of some sort of whole mind system that transcends the contributions of individual members, but is nonetheless capable of intentionality.385 These comments demonstrate that it may be very difficult to know what a complete communion or merging of minds in cyberspace would represent. If a person is completely absorbed (and therefore ceases to exist) in the new communion of minds that may only have one consciousness (one new super-organism), then this may represent a form of death for the original person. On the other hand, if the original person retains some form of individu- ality, he or she may remain in existence, although this individuality may be permanently violated and exploited by the new super-organism expressed by the communion of minds. In other words, the original person may retain his or her individual identity, but may be forced to conform to what is accepted by the ‘communion of minds’. In a way, this last scenario would be similar to what is already happening with certain human beings when they are controlled, almost digested, by the identity of dominant others, resulting in their free will being entirely over- powered and suppressed (but not integrated out of existence). The stronger, more powerful spirit would then really and irrevocably ‘suck’ the weaker into itself and permanently gorge its own sense of being on the weaker person’s outraged individuality.386 Power is indeed about wanting to control the free will of others. There may even be an ‘either him or me dominating’ concept  – a fear of being con- trolled by, and not in control of, the free will of the other. In other words, a person may want power because he or she is afraid of being vulnerable and suffering at the hands of others, and having total control enables him or her to be protected from vulnerability. This may be one of the reasons why a person may want to have power over others and concentrate all free will into himself or herself. Alternatively, for some people, the only thing left for them to value may be their very existence and a longing for this to be recognised through having power over all others. Such authority may then represent a search for the esteem of others and thereby a source of self-esteem and self-value. In a way, they want to force all others to recognise their unique existence. Individuals may also be attracted to power for the sake of freedom so that they can do whatever they decide without being restricted by the views of others. Thus, power enables a person to overrule these other views. This resonates somewhat with the concept of the ‘Will to Power’ suggested by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), which is usu- ally understood to mean that the ultimate driving force of a human being is 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.