How to Do Things with Thoughts:

Author(s): Dr. Ali Hechmi Raddaoui

Originally published on Towards AI.

Brain-Computer Interfaces: the Good and the Ugly
A seated person not using their hands. This person can act on the environment with their thoughts only. Open AI

How do we make things happen in this world? How do we effect change? How do we act on the material world and transform it? I will start with two quick answers and then invite you to explore a third, more compelling if more controversial avenue: BCI, short for Brain-Computer Interface.

A woman with an implanted Brain-Computer Interface. Source: The New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 24, 2016.First, we can act on the environment through physical actions we perform, such as building a stadium, planting a tree, digging a canal, extracting a tooth, and whatever else.The second answer is through words. More than simply being vehicles for carrying information and describing reality, language allows us to make promises, give orders, express feelings, perform ceremonies, and generally “do things with words”.There is a third way to act on reality and perform action. This is through thoughts, thoughts pure and simple. I am not talking about thoughts that pop up in your brain which you then transmit through the airwaves and turn into action. I mean an unverbalized thought, which you form in your… Read the full blog for free on Medium.

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Published via Towards AI