The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology

Farahany (The Impact of Behavioral Sciences on Criminal Law), a law and philosophy professor at Duke University, delivers a levelheaded examination of neurotechnology, a “catchall term for gadgets that connect human brains to computers” or process the data transmitted between the two. Farahany contends that these devices, which range from Fitbits to neural chips, offer reason for hope and caution. She notes that technological innovations show promise for extending the human lifespan, restoring sight to blind people, and even communicating telepathically (one experiment successfully used a “brain–computer interface” to route visual information from two participants to a third in a different room). However, such technology presents ethical risks, she cautions, pointing out a school in China that required some students to wear EEG headsets to monitor their engagement and warning that corporate studies on suggestibility during sleep indicate that sleep tracking devices constitute an invasive new frontier for advertising. She advocates for establishing a right to “cognitive liberty—the right to self-determination over our brains and mental experiences.” The author’s evenhanded approach is a refreshing reprieve from the dystopian pessimism that often accompanies discussions of these technologies, and the eye-popping examples show that the future may be closer than many assume. Readers will be enthralled. (Mar.)