On the planet of know-how, the largest breakthroughs often occur in labs or factories or boardrooms.
However recently, a few of the most mind-blowing experiments are taking place inside folks’s personal heads.
Fairly actually.
Biohackers, researchers and even some Silicon Valley executives are turning to good medication and different brain-stimulating units in an try to spice up their brainpower.
However do they really work?
And in that case, are we on the verge of a brand new sort of tech battle…
One which takes place inside the human thoughts?
The Rise of “Good Medication”
Human beings have traditionally used medication to reinforce their creativity, from tribal shamans to well-known rock stars.
And we’re at all times chasing methods to enhance our focus and reminiscence. Heck, it’s why I depend on espresso to get me by the day.
However at this time’s biohackers are experimenting with much more than caffeine.
Many flip to nootropics, that are medication and dietary supplements designed to enhance psychological operate.
Caffeine is a nootropic, and I’m proof that it really works.
So are dietary dietary supplements like ginseng and ginkgo, that are supposed to enhance cognitive operate and psychological efficiency. The Nationwide Institute of Well being (NIH) says there’s some proof that that is true, though extra analysis is required.
Different nootropics like CDP-choline, L-theanine and creatine monohydrate present some promise on this space too.
Then there are prescription nootropics, which largely include stimulants resembling Adderall — the model title for amphetamine, which is used to deal with ADHD. One other well-liked prescription choice is modafinil, a drug initially used to deal with sleep issues that’s now broadly used to assist customers keep sharp and alert.
There was a 28% bounce in Adderall prescriptions between 2017 and 2021…
And the drug is so broadly prescribed now that it has led to shortages.
After all, it’s doable to get these kind of medication illegally, and many individuals do. In accordance with a decade-old survey by The Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA,) 5 million American adults stated they obtained prescription stimulants illegally.
However there are critical dangers to taking these sorts of medicine with out a prescription, together with insomnia, hypertension and habit.
Whereas different “good drug hacks” push the envelope of legality even additional.
For instance, microdosing psychedelics like LSD or psilocybin, the energetic compound in magic mushrooms.
NPR notes that microdosing and tripping on mushrooms is on the rise within the U.S. And tech staff in Silicon Valley have made headlines like this one from Forbes:
That’s as a result of they’re utilizing tiny, sub-perceptual doses of those medication to spice up their creativity and improve problem-solving abilities.
Early analysis suggests there would possibly even be some cognitive advantages to micro-dosing, however scientists are nonetheless debating whether or not it’s an actual impact or only a placebo.
And in a lot of the nation psychedelic medication are nonetheless unlawful.
However for some, even these medication aren’t sufficient. As a substitute, they’re zapping their brains with electrical energy.
Gadgets that use transcranial direct present stimulation (tDCS) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) declare to reinforce studying, reminiscence and problem-solving talents by sending weak electrical pulses into particular mind areas.
Army organizations have examined these units on troopers to enhance response instances and focus throughout fight coaching. And I can see the attraction.
Why spend years creating abilities should you can simply “improve” your mind with a headset like one thing out of The Matrix?
Nevertheless, the outcomes have been blended.
Whereas some research recommend mind stimulation can briefly enhance focus or math abilities, others warn that long-term results are unknown.
It’s fairly doable that boosting one means may come at the price of one other. And a few scientists assume that messing with mind chemistry an excessive amount of may really hurt creativity or emotional intelligence in the long term.
However how about messing with the mind itself?
Mind Implants: The Final Improve
Whereas medication and headsets are spectacular, they nonetheless depend on exterior choices.
The true game-changer could possibly be mind implants.
These tiny chips or electrodes will be positioned inside the mind to reinforce cognition or restore misplaced talents.
Neuralink, the brain-chip firm based by Elon Musk, is among the greatest names on this area.
Supply: Wikimedia Commons
The corporate is engaged on units that might assist folks with paralysis management computer systems with their minds.
Sooner or later, Musk claims these chips may enable people to “merge” with synthetic intelligence, giving us on the spot entry to data and enhanced cognitive talents.
Different firms, like Synchron and Blackrock Neurotech, are additionally creating brain-computer interfaces that might revolutionize how we predict and work together with know-how.
These are the primary steps towards what’s referred to as “transhumanism.”
Transhumanism is the concept people can and will use know-how to enhance themselves past their pure limits.
Many transhumanists consider we’ll finally merge with machines. Some even consider AI would possibly finally enable us to “add” human consciousness into machines, making us digital beings that dwell ceaselessly.
And corporations like Neuralink are on the forefront of constructing this a actuality.
However there are dangers to this know-how.
Implanting a chip within the mind isn’t so simple as getting a brand new telephone improve. It entails surgical procedure and the potential for long-term well being results that now we have but to uncover.
There are additionally moral considerations about who controls the know-how and whether or not these implants could possibly be hacked.
Right here’s My Take
Whereas most individuals at this time are centered on AI, the subsequent large tech battle could possibly be taking place inside our brains.
In some methods, it already is. Simply have a look at the consequences of social media on people and on society as a complete.
In accordance with the Nationwide Institute of Well being: “intensive interactions with social media will be correlated to gray-matter alteration of mind areas concerned in addictive habits.”
And it’s fairly clear to me that the best way people work together with one another has quickly modified for the reason that introduction of social media on a mass scale.
On this approach, transhumanism is already beginning to go mainstream.
However how concerning the people who’re trying to turn into transhuman on a person degree?
Bryan Johnson, who offered Venmo for $800 million, might be the world’s most well-known “biohacker.” He’s spending round $2 million a yr to reverse the getting old course of.
And he’s not alone.
Corporations are additionally racing to develop smarter, sooner methods to spice up human intelligence. And folks around the globe are experimenting with their very own our bodies in pursuit of an edge.
Synthetic limbs, brain-computer interfaces and medical advances are all early steps towards a future the place people and know-how are extra linked than ever.
In the meantime, governments and regulators are struggling to maintain up, making an attempt to determine whether or not to embrace or limit these new applied sciences.
However to me, the largest query isn’t whether or not cognitive enhancement will turn into mainstream, it’s how society will deal with it.
And the way can we earn cash from it?
I’m on the hunt for the very best frontier investments on this area. As a result of one factor is for certain: the road between people and machines is getting blurrier by the day.
And whether or not we prefer it or not, the age of the upgraded thoughts is coming.
Regards,
Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing
