Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

Cognitive Liberty in the Neurotechnology Era

James J. Hughes Ph.D.Executive Director, Institute for Ethics and Emerging TechnologiesPublic Policy, Trinity College, Hartford CT

September 21, 2006Neuroethics SeminarUniversity of Pennsylvania

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

Overview

• Cognitive Liberty

• Neurotechs

• Risks to Cognitive Liberty

• Limits of Cognitive Liberty

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

Cognitive Liberty

• Bodily autonomy: right to control own brain

• Freedom of conscience, thought, belief

• Brain privacy • Liberal individualism’s idea of a

discrete, autonomous decider (increasingly problematic)

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Emerging Technologies

Tech that will radically change human brain:– Psychopharmacology– Genetic engineering– Nanotechnology– Artificial intelligence– Cognitive science

• The accelerating convergence of all these

• “for improving human performance”

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NeuroEnhancement

• Memory (anti-Alzheimers drugs, stem cells)

• Fear, Anxiety (Propanalol)• Mood (Prozac, brain stims)• Alertness (Ritalin, Provigil)• Creativity (TMS)• Empathy, Trust (Oxytocin,

Ecstasy, gene therapy)• Sensory (cochlear implants)

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NanoNeural Network

• Today: Cyberkinetics chip

• Future: Nano-Neural Network– Self-replicating– Two-way

communication– Networked

“Neuro-vascular central nervous recording/stimulating system: Using

nanotechnology probes,” Rodolfo R. Llinás, Kerry D. Walton, Masayuki Nakao, et al., Journal of

Nanoparticle Research 2005

2040?Now

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Risks to Cognitive Liberty

• Lack of Privacy

• Overt Control

• Ownership

• Social Norms

• Neurotech doesn’t pose novel challenges

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Lack of Privacy

• Extension of privacy of written and electronic records, drug tests

• Brain fingerprinting eventually functional

• Need for laws requiring warrants for brain scans, protecting brain privacy at work

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Overt Control

• Extension of debates over indoctrination, involuntary commitment

• Uses of neurotech to control desire, identity, ideation, knowledge

• Defend liberal society, fight totalitarianism

Ongoing need to parse legitimate cog liberty from insanity and criminality

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Ownership and Openness

• Extension of debates over IP, open source, voting machines, pharma trials

• Right to cog lib supercede proprietary rights over cog tech? Google Desktop added 10

points to my IQ – do I need to know how it works?

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Independence from Social Norms

• Extension of concerns over conformity

• Ability to suppress non-conformist impulses

• Sex re-assignment or gender identity correction?

• Divorce or self-agnegation?• Encourage individualism

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Virus Protection for the Brain

• Conscious control of susceptibility to pressure to conform, obey

• Having an internal locus of control

• Becoming aware of external influences

• Turning off submission to authority

• Steve Mann’s spam filters

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Limits of Liberty

Need to protect/enhance

• Flourishing

• Equality

• Empathy & solidarity

• Moral behavior

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Stop the Drug WarDevelop Therapies for

Drug Dependency

Alcohol aversion drugs, e.g. naltrexone

Buprenorphine for opiatesVaccines and gene therapies

to prevent or cure:• Alcoholism • Cocaine addiction• Heroin addiction• Nicotine dependency

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Protect/enhance equality

• Parallel to education policy, access to mental health treatment, digital divide

• Universal access, and even mandatory enhancement, may be necessary for individual opportunity and social equity

Literacy is the first step to cyborgization

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Ensure Universal Access

“…enhancing intelligence or changing personality or modifying our memory, maybe that should be available to everyone as a guarantee of equal opportunity.”

Arthur Caplan

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Empathy Therapies

Diagnosis for, and subsidized enhancement of, the genetic and neurophysiological bases of empathy and agreeableness

• Attitudes toward immigrants has a genetic component

• Debate over pathological racism & homophobia as a mental disorder

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Oxytocin and Trust

• Breastfeeding• Orgasm• Bonding and trust• “Neuroactive hormones and

interpersonal trust: International evidence” Zak & Fakhar, Economics and Human Biology– Oxytocin deficits?

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Final Thoughts

• Importance of cognitive libertyEvery person controlling their brain in self-determined ways

• Importance of liberal and social democratic societies - Liberté, egalité, solidarité - celebration of diversity & individualism

• Need for a positive model of human personality