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by Tim Hinchliffe
March 26, 2024
from
Sociable Website
Hive
mind. The Collective. Hyper-reality. The Borg...
RAND
Corp. has been a think tank closely associated with the
Trilateral Commission since 1973, producing studies like
this.
All
roads lead back to the military in their quest to create
the perfect "super soldier," shades of Hitler's
"Superman."
The
military is chock full of narcissistic Technocrats whose
holy grail is and always has been to "Master the Human
Domain."
RAND
is lighting the way:
"Given the direct embedding of technology into human
cognitive, physical and psychological functions,
substantial levels of human augmentation may '[blur]
the notions of identity and of what it means to be
human', introducing new normative lenses on humanity
and producing new stigma for those not seen as
attaining those norms."
(p. 59, 4.5.3 Cultural Implications)
Source
The
Internet of Bodies ecosystem may lead to the Internet of Brains
sometime between 2035 and 2050, according to a UK Defence-commissioned
RAND report.
"An 'internet of
bodies' may also ultimately lead
to an 'internet
of brains', i.e. human brains
connected to the
internet to facilitate
direct
brain-to-brain communication
and enable
access to online data networks"
RAND
Corporation, March 2024
Commissioned by the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and
conducted by RAND Europe and Frazer Nash Consulting,
the study "Cultural
and Technological Change in the Future Information Environment"
looks at six technologies and information environments and their
implications for British defense.
They include:
A major theme running through these information
environments is
transhumanism:
the merger of humans and machines...!
According to the report,
"Advances in object connectivity may
eventually extend to human bodies.
Researchers refer to the potential
development of an internet-linked network of human-connected
devices collecting end users' biometric data as an 'internet of
bodies' [...]
An 'internet of bodies' may also ultimately
lead to an 'internet of brains', i.e. human brains connected to
the internet to facilitate direct brain-to-brain communication
and enable access to online data networks."
The
Internet of Bodies and the coming Internet of Brains fall
specifically under the category of,
"human augmentation
technologies," which "refer to technologies that enhance human
capabilities, either physically or cognitively."
According to the report, the technological applications most
associated with human augmentation include:
-
Wearable devices and implants for tracking and analyzing
physiological and environmental data (e.g. biochips and implantable
sensors). These technologies aim to achieve real-time continuous
monitoring of physiological data to understand human health
conditions and performance
-
Sensory augmentation technologies such as hearing and retinal
implants designed to improve or augment sensory activities,
particularly vision and hearing. Smart prosthetics are a related
category, including exoskeletons, i.e. whole-body robotic suits that
enhance end users' physical capabilities and improve their mobility,
strength, endurance and other abilities
-
Brain-computer or brain-brain interfaces that establish direct
communications between human brains and/or computer devices
Elon Musk's Neuralink is the latest example of a brain-computer
interface that
received much publicity for helping
a paralyzed man, but,
what happens when human augmentation goes
from healing to enhancement...?
Transhumanism may lead to superhuman abilities, but,
those abilities
may be reserved for only a select chosen class while the rest of us
programmable plebs could exist in a constant state of surveillance
and control until we become irrelevant.
According to the report,
"While some experts predict the tactical
improvement of human capabilities, others have explored the
potential emergence of 'trans-humanism' within the 2050 timeframe.
"This concept describes 'a new form of human (a trans-human)
[...] where information and communication technologies and
biomedicine will fundamentally improve the human condition and
greatly enhance human intellectual, physical and psychological
capacities."
For the chosen ones, they could receive
human performance
enhancement that would give them the ability to,
never tire, think
smarter, move faster, jump higher, see farther, hear better, hit
harder, live longer, adapt stronger, and calculate quicker than any
other human being on the planet.
Meanwhile,
the Fourth Industrial Revolution is already merging our
physical, biological, and digital identities in order to monitor,
manipulate, and reprogram our behavior.
If and when humans become fully integrated with machines on a large
scale,
where will the technology end and the human begin...?
Internet of Bodies Examples,
RAND Corporation 2020
The authors of the RAND report say that,
"Given the direct embedding of technology
into human cognitive, physical and psychological functions,
substantial levels of human augmentation may '[blur] the notions
of identity and of what it means to be human', introducing new
normative lenses on humanity and producing new stigma for those
not seen as attaining those norms."
On an individual level, if you wish to remain a
natural human and
not become part of "Homo sapiens technologicus," you might not be
able to compete in the workplace, and you might be rendered part of
the useless class of human...
On an international level, countries, cultures, and communities that
don't participate in the transhumanist experiment may find
themselves easily conquered by those that do.
The report adds,
"The social dynamics of human augmentation
adoption may include disparities in access to relevant
technologies, thus introducing new forms of digital exclusion
whereby the economically disadvantaged cannot access the same
enhancement level as other societal segments."
At the same time, natural humans who don't get chipped may have an
advantage in that,
they may not be as easily manipulated and
controlled by thoughts or memories that may not be entirely their
own...
In other words,
transhumanism may lead to super-human capabilities
for some, and mind control for others...
"Advances
in brain-computer interfaces
may translate
into
developing
brain-to-brain communication technologies,
leading to
entirely new modes
of interpersonal
communication"
RAND Corporation, March 2024
"Human augmentation
could undermine
end users' cognitive safety
and influence
their ability to assess the credibility
of information
they receive while using
human
augmentation technologies"
RAND Corporation, March 2024
Manipulation and control are other areas of concern with human
augmentation, the Internet of Bodies, and the Internet of Brains.
False information, images, sounds, memories, and thoughts could one
day be downloaded to these devices and uploaded to the human brain
with devastating effect.
According to the report,
"Sensing technologies (e.g. hearing
implants), in particular, carry a risk of interference, whereby
devices could be manipulated to provide erroneous information to the
end user.
"Such manipulation of sensory inputs would substantially amplify
current threats from artificially creating or manipulating visual
and auditory information (e.g. images and videos).
"Therefore, human augmentation could undermine end users'
cognitive safety and influence their ability to assess the
credibility of information they receive while using human
augmentation technologies."
"Significant
advancements are likely
in human
augmentation technologies
in the 2035–2050
timeframe"
RAND
Corporation, March 2024
The Pentagon, too has been investigating how to fundamentally alter
what it means to be human,
funding research into creating super
humans that are smarter, faster, and stronger through human
performance enhancement.
Once technology gets in-and-under the skin to collect as much
intimate data about you as possible, you are well on the way to
transhumanism and the beginning of what could be the
worst
totalitarian surveillance regime in human history.
Worse than being serfs, those not able to keep up in this brave new
transhumanistic world would be rendered irrelevant, redundant,
useless - unnecessary even for manual labor...
After all the genetic editing and the technological manipulation
stemming from the fourth industrial revolution,
will we still be
able to call ourselves 'human'...?
Humanity as we know it may split into an entirely new species,
where those not genetically edited or technologically altered could
never compete with those who were:
In a future where humans are no longer considered to be natural
humans,
what would that mean for human rights...?
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