Controlling your computer with your eyes
via kurzweilai:
Millions of people suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injuries or amputees could soon interact with their computers and surroundings using just their eyes, thanks to a new device that costs less than £40.
Wait, what?? this is cheap now??? I NNNEEEED this. gotta start building my brain muscles stat!
Ray Kurzweil and other so-called transhumanists have promised that in coming decades we will be able to transfer a digital copy of the trillions of connections among nerve cells in our brains into a computer. We would essentially reincarnate ourselves as non-biological beings that persist for eternity inside a laptop, on the endless links of the Internet or as avatars inside a television set. After achieving the ultimate copy and paste, we would wave goodbye to death as we know it.
Scientists use brain imaging to reveal the movies in our mind
Imagine tapping into the mind of a coma patient, or watching one’s own dream on YouTube. With a cutting-edge blend of brain imaging and computer simulation, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are bringing these futuristic scenarios within reach.
Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and computational models, UC Berkeley researchers have succeeded in decoding and reconstructing people’s dynamic visual experiences – in this case, watching Hollywood movie trailers.
As yet, the technology can only reconstruct movie clips people have already viewed. However, the breakthrough paves the way for reproducing the movies inside our heads that no one else sees, such as dreams and memories, according to researchers.
» via UC Berkeley
Decision Fatigue
· You cant make decision after decision without paying a biological price.
o The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain, and eventually it looks for shortcuts.
· Decision Fatigue involves a psychological phenomenon called ego depletion.
o There is a finite store of mental energy for exerting self-control.
o The act of making lots of choices can sap one’s willpower.
o Part of the resistance against making decisions comes from our fear of giving up options.
· Once you’re mentally depleted, you become reluctant to make tradeoffs.
o To compromise is a complex human ability and therefore one of the first to decline when willpower is depleted. –you are programmed to hoard your energy.
o If you’re shopping, you’re liable to look at only one dimension, like price…or quality.
· Shopping can be especially tiring for the poor who have to struggle continually with trade-offs.
o Therefore, they have less willpower to devote to school, work and other activities that might get them into the middle class.
· Psychologists like to envision the human mind as a computer, focusing on the way it processes information—they neglect the power source: GLUCOSE
o The brain derives its energy from glucose.
o Glucose can mitigate ego depletion and sometimes completely reverse it.
o Restored willpower improves people’s self control as well as the quality of their decisions.
· Ego depletion causes activity to rise in some parts of the brain and to decline in others.
o Your brain does not stop working when glucose is low.
o It responds more strongly to immediate rewards and pays less attention to long-term prospects.
o People spend between three and four hours a day resisting desire.
· Where there were fewer decisions, there was less decision fatigue. Today we feel overwhelmed because there are so many choices.
o A typical computer user looks at more than three dozen web sites a day.
· Ego depletion manifests itself not as one feeling but rather as a propensity to experience everything more intensely.
o When the brain’s regulatory powers weaken, frustrations seem more irritating than usual.
· The people with the best self control are the ones who structure their lives so as to conserve willpower.
o They don’t schedule back to back meetings.
o They avoid temptations like all-you-can-eat buffets.
o They establish habits that eliminate the mental effort of making choices.
o The best decision makers are the ones who know when NOT to trust themselves.
IBM has developed a microprocessor which it claims comes closer than ever to replicating the human brain.
The system is capable of “rewiring” its connections as it encounters new information, similar to the way biological synapses work.
Researchers believe that that by replicating that feature, the technology could start to learn.
» via BBC
Dreams DO come true.
Imagine you can insert a memory card in your brain and go all Keanu Wow, I know Jiu-Jitsu! Reeves. It’s actually not that far away: Scientists have created a chip that allows rats to instantly know things.
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