It sounds like things are going well for this guy and that is great and all, but how much would we honestly expect to hear if it wasn’t going well?
This story is circulating all the media outlets and feels more like PR than a legit example of how this procedure is actually going to work for most people.
It sounds like things are going well for this guy and that is great and all, but how much would we honestly expect to hear if it wasn’t going well?
Given how eager people are to pounce on negative news about anything Elon Musk-related, I expect we would be hearing way, way more about this if it wasn’t going well. “Elon Musk’s Neuralink Damages a Man’s Brain!” and “Elon Musk’s Neuralink Fails!” Headlines and such from every rooftop.
Can’t we just fling him into the sun and let someone else take over these companies?
That takes an immense amount of fuel. We orbit the sun at 30 km/s, of which you have to cancel about 24 km/s to actually hit it. This is after escaping Earth’s atmosphere (another 11 km/s of delta V) and effective sphere of influence which takes even more fuel. We could use some gravity assists off the moon and inner planets to get there, but even then it’s not really economical. Our best bet would be to send him out super far using ~9 km/s of dV, and then use a very small amount to cancel out any remaining angular momentum and let him slowly fall into the sun. Unfortunately, as with all efficient space maneuvers, you pay for them in time, and this maneuver would take you 3 years. We’d have to somehow support the little bastard all that time but it might just be doable.
You mean like these articles doing the rounds a while back? https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-pcrm-neuralink-monkey-deaths/
Yeah, exactly. People love to amplify any negatives they can find about Musk, it plays to the rage mobs and that translates into clicks and endorphins.
lol seriously. dude is acting like people cover up bad news about musk. I hate the fucker but if he rolled his eyes at a waitress it would be front page news.
Patient 2: “unresponsive”
Two years later
Patient 27: “unresponsive”
Patient 28: “Guys! We’ve got a live one here!”
My only concern is that people are going to think that he only stayed playing civ all night because it’s exciting to do something. But that’s not the case.
Innocent people are going to try this game and keep saying “one more turn”.
I think it’s an amazing advancement and that’s awesome for a quadriplegic person to interact with the world.
The part that I haven’t heard anyone mention is what is the life cycle of these chips. Computers and cell phones all become outdated so quickly. Are recipients guaranteed upgraded chips as they become available?
I was reading an article recently about people who have had implants in their eyes that help them to see become obsolete. One because the company stopped supporting the specific version that was in the patient. The other because the company had gone out of business.
Even if the chip never went obsolete, the scar tissue build up around implanted brain devices interferes with signal over time and they need to be replaced.
Also, each installation/replacement has a few percentage point chance of leading to a life threatening infection.
Unless both those issues are solved, irrespective of obsolescence this is only the sort of thing that makes sense for patients who feel that their life is effectively over without it and have low risk thresholds for treatment options.
Ever seen Johnny Mnemonic? He had a whole 80gb storage in his brain and upgraded it to 160gb. Future proof. He’d almost be able to install a modern AAA title!
The story of “Second Sight” and the folks that depended on them is pretty sad. I hope there’s some kind of backup plan in case the company goes under, gets acquired, or decides to abandon existing technology. Like placing the key tech in a trust of sorts.
Part of the study is to see how long it lasts. It’s replaceable in theory but there’s things like are there complications with redoing it (e.g scar tissue) to be explored.
As a human trial, he may never get an upgrade, and it might fail in a few months unexpectedly.
It’s part of the risk of being in a trial vs waiting until it’s a finished product.
One… More… Turn…
I have played one game of Civ in my life. After spending the better part of a weekend with it, I realized the “one more turn” thing was too addictive for me and decided it was best if I never play the game again.
I hurt my finger from clicking so much once night and haven’t been willing to go back. It was a bit too addictive, but ngl, playing it with just my brain sounds interesting. I’m just left thinking, what’s the catch? What “ergo” issues might come up from using this thing for hours to do something repetitive? None? Big, if true
Three was an interview/presentation at neuralink where people asked him some questions.
Someone asked him what it felt like to use it, and he tried to explain, but it came down to it was too complicated to fully explain it.
Asking him if it caused any sort of fatigue would have been a amazing question.
And then the realization hits that you’re at turn 200 and it takes like half an hour
I’m very happy for this guy. Fuck musk.
