Your brain isn't so private anymore

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2023

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Guest host Sigal Samuel talks with professor of philosophy and law Nita Farahany about her new book The Battle for Your Brain. In it, Farahany details the new brain-scanning tech that has already arrived, and the risks this poses to our privacy and freedom of thought. Sigal and Nita discuss what this technology can currently do (and what it can't), how new devices might be used by corporations or governments to infringe on our rights, and the prospect of using new technologies to rid ourselves of painful or traumatic memories — even, potentially, before they've been formed. Host: Sigal Samuel (@SigalSamuel), Senior Reporter, Vox Guest: Nita Farahany (@NitaFarahany), author; professor of philosophy & Robinson O. Everett Professor of Law, Duke University References: The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology by Nita A. Farahany (St. Martin's; 2023) "Your brain may not be private much longer" by Sigal Samuel (Vox; March 17) "BGU develops wearable advanced warning system for epileptic seizures" (Jerusalem Post; Sept. 29, 2020) "Elon Musk shows off updates to his brain chips and says he's going to install one in himself when they are ready" by Ashley Capoot (CNBC; Dec. 1, 2022) "Brain-implant companies balk at moves to regulate their nascent tech" by Sarah McBride (Los Angeles Times; Feb. 19) "NHS trials headset that claims to zap depression" by Katie Prescott (The Times; Jan. 23) "Australian man uses brain implant to send texts from his iPad" by Kristin Houser (Freethink; Nov. 12, 2022) "Is 'brain fingerprinting' a breakthrough or a sham?" by Russell Brandom (The Verge; Feb. 2, 2015) "China Claims It's Scanning Workers' Brainwaves to Increase Efficiency and Profits" by Samantha Cole (VICE; May 1, 2018) "Incriminating Thoughts" by Nita A. Farahany (Stanford Law Review, vol. 64 (2); Feb. 2012) John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty" (1859) Immanuel Kant, Critique of Practical Reason (1788) "Non-conscious brain modulation may help PTSD patients forget their fears" by Brooks Hays (UPI; Feb. 23, 2021) No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallax Press; 2019) Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Engineers: Patrick Boyd & Brandon McFarland Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Sigal Samuel sitting in today for Sean Elling.
0:06.1	A few years ago, I was at a bar in San Francisco having a beer with a bunch of other people.
0:11.8	We'd all just come from a conference full of super smart speakers and our brains were
0:17.5	exhausted.
0:19.4	The person next to me said something like, thank god for new atropics.
0:24.8	I didn't know what that was, but I very soon learned it was a technical
0:29.6	term for smart drugs or cognitive enhancers.
0:35.6	Pills that supposedly give your brain a boost.
0:39.8	Everyone at the table started saying how if there was a pill that could boost their IQ
0:44.4	by 30, 40, 50 points, they would take it right there on the spot.
0:51.4	I was the only one who said, no thanks.
0:58.1	And everyone looked at me like I was just deranged.
1:01.8	They asked me why wouldn't you want to be smarter?
1:06.4	I pointed out that smarter doesn't necessarily mean happier.
1:10.7	And if all of us at the bar just boosted our IQs, it could create pressure for other people
1:15.8	to do the same thing, even if they couldn't afford to or didn't want to take those drugs.
1:25.7	As for today, and smart drugs are like child's play compared to what else is out there.
1:32.0	Brain-based technologies have proliferated.
1:35.2	There's neurofeedback, deep brain stimulation, brain computer interfaces, and the good news
1:42.6	is there are some hopeful signs that these may be able to help treat things like depression
1:48.3	or addiction.
1:50.2	But there are also uses that sound like they're straight out of dystopian sci-fi, except they're
	...

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