Brain Augmentation May Yield An Exponential Scientific Revolution

 Transhumanism  

As Ted Chu, and others have argued, our human brains are currently a major impediment to scientific and technical progress.  Will augmenting our biological intelligence yield a new scientific revolution?

In Ted Chu's incredible book Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential, he analyzes how limiting our current biology is.  In the chapter titled, "All Too Human," Chu discusses how scientific advancement is held back by the lack of our capability to deal with masses of data and form the interdisciplinary connections that lead to breakthroughs.

"Is it time to look beyond human science?" asks Chu.

As John Horgan argued in The End Of Science: Facing The Limits Of Knowledge In The Twilight Of The Scientific Age, the biggest bottleneck in science we face is the human brain.

Not since Francis Bacon has any one individual been able to master all of human knowledge.  The number of research papers published each year continues to rise, well beyond the limits of any one individual can manage, even within areas of specialization.

Growth in the number of neuroscience papers - Source: Nature

Using computer systems such as IBM's Watson to deal with the computational and data needs of science is common, but they may limit the creative requirements of innovation and breakthroughs. Using these systems forces may scientists to be more data managers than users.  These challenges were pointed out by Edward Tenner in Why Things Bite Back.

"Civilization's most recent burst of scientific progress, the one that started during the Renaissance, is fast reaching its denouement if we do not create better minds."

An other example of the effects of accumulation of scientific papers is the exploding amount of papers that are essentially just surveys of other papers in a given field.

The other main tool scientific research employs is collaboration.  It is now for scientific research journal publications to have many authors.  In many cases honorary authorship, and inclusion of well-known authors not directly associated with the work in publications is done to increase the readership and social prestige of the piece. However, the fact that advancements today can require massive capital spending, and diverse specializations make collaboration an essential tool, and potential stumbling block of progress in science. Finding publications with single authors is very rare today.

Chu argues that overspecialization has caused tunnel vision for scientific research. "There is a critical difference between knowledge stored in different brains and a single brain in terms of understanding and creativity," argues Chu. "Regardless of how much effort we put into communication and collaboration, the best breakthroughs still emerge from one creative mind."

Two alternatives may help overcome these limitations, development of a global brain, and brain augmentation. The Global Brain is a metaphor for the worldwide intelligent network formed by people together with the information and communication technologies that connect them into an "organic" whole. Depending on its implementation the Global Brain may or may not account for the single-mindedness characteristic of the individual human brain.

Brain augmentation, on the other hand may be the answer.  Whether it lead to Chu's consciously evolved CoBe (Cosmic Being), or simply provide an advanced memory and recall amplification for our brains with neuroprosthetics, extending our capabilities will yield Singularity-level consequences.

Related articles Kim Stanley Robinson Discusses Utopia, The Singularity and Transhumanism  The Transhumanist Wager  Ted Chu on Singularity 1 on 1: The time has come to set a higher goal!

Augmentation of brain function is no longer just a theme of science fiction. With advances in neuroscience, it has become a matter of reality that a person may consider at some point in life, for example as a treatment of a neurodegenerative disease. Currently, several approaches offer enhancements for sensory, motor and cognitive brain functions, as well as for mood and emotions. Such enhancements may be achieved pharmacologically, using brain implants for recordings, stimulation and drug delivery, by employing brain-machine interfaces, the development of nanomedical implants, or even by ablation of certain brain areas.

Chu writes:

The core I argument I will put forth here is that each of our brain's capabilities has limitations and drawbacks in both technical and motivational terms, and these limitations cannot be overcome as long as we remain "human' in the conventional sense. To understand this argument, must first recognize that the human brain is a historical product of natural evolution, a big patchwork providing partial solutions, rather than an engineered masterpiece. The brain is a passable solution to the problems at hand, not an optimal solution.

For scientific progress to continue, and continue to accelerate, the bottleneck of the human brain must be overcome. "Civilization's most recent burst of scientific progress, the one that started during the Renaissance, is fast reaching its denouement if we do not create better minds," states Chu.

How do you think our science and technology will be advanced by brain augmentation?  Should we proceed?

By 33rd Square

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