On this planet of know-how, the largest breakthroughs often occur in labs or factories or boardrooms.
However these days, a number of the most mind-blowing experiments are occurring inside individuals’s personal heads.
Fairly actually.
Biohackers, researchers and even some Silicon Valley executives are turning to sensible medicine and different brain-stimulating units in an try to spice up their brainpower.
However do they really work?
And in that case, are we on the verge of a brand new form of tech conflict…
One which takes place inside the human thoughts?
The Rise of “Good Medication”
Human beings have traditionally used medicine to reinforce their creativity, from tribal shamans to well-known rock stars.
And we’re at all times chasing methods to enhance our focus and reminiscence. Heck, it’s why I depend on espresso to get me by way of the day.
However right this moment’s biohackers are experimenting with much more than caffeine.
Many flip to nootropics, that are medicine and dietary supplements designed to enhance psychological operate.
Caffeine is a nootropic, and I’m proof that it really works.
So are dietary dietary supplements like ginseng and ginkgo, that are supposed to enhance cognitive operate and psychological efficiency. The Nationwide Institute of Well being (NIH) says there’s some proof that that is true, though extra analysis is required.
Different nootropics like CDP-choline, L-theanine and creatine monohydrate present some promise on this space too.
Then there are prescription nootropics, which largely include stimulants corresponding to Adderall — the model title for amphetamine, which is used to deal with ADHD. One other in style prescription possibility is modafinil, a drug initially used to deal with sleep issues that’s now extensively used to assist customers keep sharp and alert.
There was a 28% soar in Adderall prescriptions between 2017 and 2021…
And the drug is so extensively prescribed now that it has led to shortages.
After all, it’s doable to get a lot of these medicine illegally, and many individuals do. In response to a decade-old survey by The Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA,) 5 million American adults stated they obtained prescription stimulants illegally.
However there are severe dangers to taking these varieties of medication with out a prescription, together with insomnia, hypertension and habit.
Whereas different “sensible drug hacks” push the envelope of legality even additional.
For instance, microdosing psychedelics like LSD or psilocybin, the energetic compound in magic mushrooms.
NPR notes that microdosing and tripping on mushrooms is on the rise within the U.S. And tech staff in Silicon Valley have made headlines like this one from Forbes:
That’s as a result of they’re utilizing tiny, sub-perceptual doses of those medicine to spice up their creativity and improve problem-solving expertise.
Early analysis suggests there may even be some cognitive advantages to micro-dosing, however scientists are nonetheless debating whether or not it’s an actual impact or only a placebo.
And in many of the nation psychedelic medicine are nonetheless unlawful.
However for some, even these medicine aren’t sufficient. As a substitute, they’re zapping their brains with electrical energy.
Units that use transcranial direct present stimulation (tDCS) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) declare to reinforce studying, reminiscence and problem-solving skills by sending weak electrical pulses into particular mind areas.
Army organizations have examined these units on troopers to enhance response occasions and focus throughout fight coaching. And I can see the attraction.
Why spend years creating expertise in the event you can simply “improve” your mind with a headset like one thing out of The Matrix?
Nonetheless, the outcomes have been combined.
Whereas some research counsel mind stimulation can quickly enhance focus or math expertise, others warn that long-term results are unknown.
It’s fairly doable that boosting one skill might come at the price of one other. And a few scientists suppose that messing with mind chemistry an excessive amount of might truly hurt creativity or emotional intelligence in the long term.
However how about messing with the mind itself?
Mind Implants: The Final Improve
Whereas medicine and headsets are spectacular, they nonetheless depend on exterior choices.
The actual game-changer might be mind implants.
These tiny chips or electrodes may be positioned inside the mind to reinforce cognition or restore misplaced skills.
Neuralink, the brain-chip firm based by Elon Musk, is without doubt one of the largest names on this area.
Supply: Wikimedia Commons
The corporate is engaged on units that would assist individuals with paralysis management computer systems with their minds.
Sooner or later, Musk claims these chips might enable people to “merge” with synthetic intelligence, giving us on the spot entry to data and enhanced cognitive skills.
Different corporations, like Synchron and Blackrock Neurotech, are additionally creating brain-computer interfaces that would revolutionize how we predict and work together with know-how.
These are the primary steps towards what’s referred to as “transhumanism.”
Transhumanism is the concept that people can and will use know-how to enhance themselves past their pure limits.
Many transhumanists consider we are going to finally merge with machines. Some even consider AI may finally enable us to “add” human consciousness into machines, making us digital beings that stay perpetually.
And corporations like Neuralink are on the forefront of creating this a actuality.
However there are dangers to this know-how.
Implanting a chip within the mind isn’t so simple as getting a brand new cellphone improve. It entails surgical procedure and the potential for long-term well being results that we’ve got but to uncover.
There are additionally moral considerations about who controls the know-how and whether or not these implants might be hacked.
Right here’s My Take
Whereas most individuals right this moment are targeted on AI, the subsequent massive tech conflict might be occurring inside our brains.
In some methods, it already is. Simply have a look at the results of social media on people and on society as a complete.
In response to the Nationwide Institute of Well being: “intensive interactions with social media may be correlated to gray-matter alteration of mind areas concerned in addictive habits.”
And it’s fairly clear to me that the way in which people work together with one another has quickly modified for the reason that introduction of social media on a mass scale.
On this manner, transhumanism is already beginning to go mainstream.
However how concerning the of us who’re trying to turn into transhuman on a person stage?
Bryan Johnson, who bought Venmo for $800 million, might be the world’s most well-known “biohacker.” He’s spending round $2 million a 12 months to reverse the ageing course of.
And he’s not alone.
Corporations are additionally racing to develop smarter, sooner methods to spice up human intelligence. And folks all over the world are experimenting with their very own our bodies in pursuit of an edge.
Synthetic limbs, brain-computer interfaces and medical advances are all early steps towards a future the place people and know-how are extra related than ever.
In the meantime, governments and regulators are struggling to maintain up, attempting to determine whether or not to embrace or prohibit these new applied sciences.
However to me, the largest query isn’t whether or not cognitive enhancement will turn into mainstream, it’s how society will deal with it.
And the way can we generate profits from it?
I’m on the hunt for the very best frontier investments on this area. As a result of one factor is definite: the road between people and machines is getting blurrier by the day.
And whether or not we prefer it or not, the age of the upgraded thoughts is coming.
Regards,
Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing
