Disturbing Poll: One in Ten OK with Net Access Brain Implant
Here is a disturbing thought, 11 percent of Americans say they would be willing to safely implant a device that enabled them to use their mind to access the Internet, according to poll released yesterday by Zogby International and 463 Communications. If that creeps you out, the poll results get weirder.
The study also reveals 1 in 4 Americans say that the Internet can serve as a substitute for a significant other for some period of time.
Is that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse I see headed our way?
The Zogby/463 poll of 9743 Americans examined people's attitudes about the Internet. The results just make me want to cut back on how much I sit in front of this computer.
* Other troubling poll results reveal 1 in 5 respondents said they would be willing to have a chip implanted in a child 13 or younger so they can track them.
* Ten percent said the Internet made them closer to God. On the other hand, 6 percent said it made them more distant.
Alas, a sigh of relief ? the study found that our warped obsession with Hollywood is safe from the lure of technology. Poll results show Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson and Patrick Dempsey are considered sexier than the iPhone.
Before you give your neighbor credit for getting their priorities right on that last question consider this: one in five Americans said they would change their name to something completely different for $100,000 cash. The study didn't say whether that was before taxes or after.
Other poll results are a bit more mundane by comparison.
More than one in four Americans has a social networking profile on sites such as MySpace or Facebook. Seventy-eight percent of 18-24 year-olds report having a social networking profile.
Over half of Americans think that Internet content such as video should be controlled in some way by the government.
The full survey, including detailed demographic information, is available here.
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It's sorta weird that a magazine called "PCWORLD" would be neo-luddite about the idea of having an implant to access the internet.
Why is that exactly?
"Let's see, I could safely have a implant that allows me to instantly access the whole of human knowledge.. or... not."
"...Well, Knowledge IS scary :o !!!"
People have implants that regulate their heart beat, that make their stomach smaller, that make their hip joint work..
Why is it such a terrible thought that you might have an implant that allows you to instantly access data and knowledge? It's not like your brain could be 'hacked,' nor would it be providing any 'control' over your mind. It'd be the most passive implant possible, one that you choose to access, instead of choosing to access you.
A pacemaker is far more unnatural, as it extends the life of someone who is meant to die. An internet implant would just be an enhancement.
So, really, PCWORLD, what's with the neo-luddite stance?
If you've ever read Tad Williams' "Otherland" series the idea of Internet Access implants could either thrill or mortify you. Depending on the degree to which the technology would be integrated with normal body functions I would actually like to see it researched.
How awesome would it be for the disabled to be able to logon and communicate freely via the internet? For physicians to have their entire reference library at their command no matter where they are? Perhaps even a means of translating another language on the fly.
Of course, this would be a nightmare for teachers trying to keep students from cheating. :-) And there is the worry of what a computer virus could actually do to the device. I would love to see serious research going in this direction in the future. Not necessarilyfor recreational internet access, but the direct input/output capabilities that the technology would present. Recreational uses would inevitabliy follow on their own.
Would people be so willing for such an implant if it was made by Microsoft? Why would anyone trust something alleged to be hacker proof and non-zombifying.
Cripes sake -- it's your brain, man! "Duh, I want somethin' stuck in mah brain so's I kin be smart!"
But hey -- people would probably like to have GPS chips and other tracking devices stuck in their torso as well. You can never get enough Big Brother Is Watching You, right? Give me a break! Anyone willing to have that sort of junk inserted into their bodies deserve whatever happens to them in consequence. This just proves that the world is full of genuine morons.
God, imagine how bad things could go if most of the civilized world had internet implants! Everyone could cheat easily in school/college. Everyone would almost constantly be distracted and probably be less likely to memorize facts that they could just "google". We see kids who are texting almost non-stop or who go on myspace or Wow all day... what would you think would happen if it required the least possible amount of effort to access the internet like this?
Of course, if we could find a way to overcome these social issues then it would be f'ing sweet to have these! Then I could StumbleUpon and sleep AT THE SAME TIME, thus rendering me completely useless to society lol