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Un Sospiro (Liszt) - Joseph Asfouri

on November 15, 2022

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On justification for limitations to neuromodulation

The question is not how we could rewire ourselves, but how we should . Our motivation to rewire the brain suggests that there is some optimal target state of human behavior different from our current state. But how would we define such a state? Who would be our model? If there were individual model, then rewiring all other individuals to behave like them would be entirely possible, assuming complete biological and electrical control over the human brain. Is a “perfect society” composed of “perfect individual”? “Perfecting” the individual seems to be the means to a “perfect society.” But whose definition of “perfect society” will we use? Will it be Mill and Bentham’s greatest good for the greatest number, or Hitler’s fantasized dominion of the Aryan race? And what would describe the “perfect individual” in each of these ideals? In the latter, the answer is hideously obvious; in the former, it is entirely ambiguous. How much of our present society should we force to be preserved, ...

On evolution as an optimization problem

Who we are today – genotypically and phenotypically – is the solution to an optimization problem tackled by somewhat of a random walk that we call evolution. Are we truly an optimum? And if we are an optimum, are we the global optimum, or are we a local optimum, trapped forever in a relatively stable well? Are there some who still circle the rim of the well and others who have reached the bottom? And if we are trapped, will there ever be an individual genetic mutation that displaces the individual far enough away from our present optimum that their progeny can explore the rest of the function space? Whether we are stuck in or still approaching a local or global optimum depends on our optimization function. Unlike most problems in computer science, this optimization problem is not clearly defined. In fact, the problem itself is tautological: the fact that we, the subjects of the problem, are conscious that there is a problem is the only reason that there is a problem. Of course, the...

On the threat of bioengineering to individuality

The revolution today that is more imminent than neural engineering is genetic engineering, the other part of the quest to cure humanity of its ills. When we have developed technologies enabling high-precision genetic and neural modulation, I believe we will have possessed the tools to control all diseases, medical and social. Only when we have conquered these two realms of biotechnology can we hope to approach the vision of universal contentedness which all who wish to better the world have in mind. But how do we approach such a society without losing what we love about society today? Our imperfections, our differences, and our disabilities as much as our abilities (in some cases) do enrich our lives. Genetically, biodiversity is a necessary byproduct of evolution, as it is what provided the random advantages which enabled the animal kingdom to arise from our single-celled forefathers. Neurally, human mental diversity is what made us supreme over our hominid cousins in highly compe...

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Un Sospiro (Liszt) - Joseph Asfouri

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