Beware the Coming “Happy” Chip

Beware the Coming “Happy” Chip

By all indications, Americans face a mental health crisis of an unprecedented scale. Between COVID’s increased isolation, skyrocketing depression and anxiety, and the decay of stabilizing institutions like family and church, more people seek mental health solutions than ever before.

Unfortunately, there’s no magic pill. There is no Soma you can take to fix your brain—never mind what lie Big Pharma sells you.

Now along comes Neuralink and 21st century carnival barker Elon Musk with snake oil 2.0. “Unhappy? Depressed? All you need to do is consent to having a small chip implanted in your brain. Then you’ll be fine.”

Okay, if we’re honest, we know there’s something dangerous about overriding the warnings our brains send us without addressing more complex underlying factors. So, imagine a solution that avoids chemical manipulation. No risk of drug interactions. No risk of adverse reactions from missing a dose. No unwanted side-effects.

But will your brain ever be under your control again?

World Economic Forum Young Leader Elon Musk imagines nearly endless possibilities for his Neuralink company’s brain chip. Recently approved for human testing by the FDA, such tech promises to do everything from curing motor function ailments to suppressing cigarette cravings to altering a bad mood or thought pattern.

And therein lies one of its biggest dangers.

Even if we agree that some feelings, thoughts, or ideas may be right or wrong or at least more or less appropriate than others, who’s to say where that line is for each individual? And whom do we trust with such power?

Clearly, the idea of implanting brain chips is fraught with risks. Consider just three interrelated issues: consent, liberty, and expression.

Consent has gotten much airtime for many reasons lately. Can something be considered “voluntary” if it is done without one’s permission?

Presently, brain chip implant procedures require full disclosure of known risks and patient consent. But what if today’s tech develops to the point that it can “help” those who cannot give consent themselves?

So far as guardians or parents might have a say, so good.

But what happens if the government or other agencies (think: the WEF) gain authority to choose who and who does not receive a chip? Will future generations get brain-chipped before they can even think for themselves?

Individual liberty has obvious ties to the mind.

So long as we possess freedom of thought, we have agency. We can decide our own actions. We can also protect ourselves against tyranny.

But when thought is (eventually) controlled, language and ideas will be suppressed. Decisions will be coerced. Liberties will be non-existent.

Just suppose a government, group, or powerful individual gains access over our minds with the intention of “curing” our sadness and woes. Suddenly, they can suppress unwanted ideas, convictions, and beliefs. Can you imagine how easy it would be to control the populace?

No need for prisons. No need for police. Or armies.

We will literally have on/off buttons like computers. Don’t like the public agitating against the next lockdown? Shut off their minds. Problem solved.

Expression and speech are powerful.

It’s no wonder our founders enshrined such rights in the First Amendment of the Constitution. And it’s no surprise such areas are under attack from those who want to control us via reshaping our language—and eventually stopping the problem at its source.

Thankfully, threats like these won’t arrive overnight.

They require time to be seeded into the zeitgeist. Little by little we get acclimated to lies when they’re repeated often enough. We can’t let that happen when it comes to the next big thing: brain-chipping to cure life’s challenges.

Our fear of suffering is nothing new. But it may soon prove to be our undoing if we do not perceive the trap before us. It’s time to take back our thoughts and our liberties before someone else claims them.

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