Memories and Index Files

In Japan, researchers have already been able to show someone a word, then (using brainscans) recreate the image of the word on their screen. Granted, the image is a little fuzzy:

http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/12/scientists-extract-images-directly-from-brain/

But the results are the same. It's really only a matter of time before they clarify the image and develop algorithms to handle color, odor, texture, even sound for the other senses of the human brain.

Which of course leads us to the discussion of a Virtual Reality. Not the one you see in labs like the one I work in, where "Virtual Reality" is like going to see a 3D movie, but an actual dreamlike state where the stimulus might end up traveling both ways. At first you may be only able to view what the output supplies. Eventually you might be able to send input in and create something like what you were thinking of.

It may sound far-fetched, but the brain is really a big, complex computer that we use a very, very small amount of. Processes of the brain are fascinating... how it receives and processes data, how it stores data in odd jumbles that our dreams sort out at night... the list goes on.

My area of interest however is the potential for "human indexing." Once we discover how information is encoded and stored, it's a short step to receiving that information or even calling out past information that's lingered in the brain.

Granted, your memories might have faded, but something tells me you could call up even the ones you buried long ago. And that leads in all sorts of directions. The one I choose to talk about? Indexing.

It's a tragedy when we lose a loved one. Our memories with them will never disappear, but they'll slowly be archived away in some dusty old corner of the brain until barely a whisper is left. This Virtual Reality brings an interesting view of what information computers could access, though. Yes, there will be people screaming about the lack of privacy, and that problem can be simply fixed by giving a person the option of "brain indexing" or not.

See, the way I'd figure brain indexing would work would be a simple 15-or-so-minute period where the computer asks you a question and your brain responds with all sorts of information regarding it. It shows the computer how you normally react and how you spontaneously react. The computer calculates the probability of such a reaction and fits it into your profile.

Eventually, your profile has so many variables that the data that you've collected about yourself is MASSIVE. You could keep this information to yourself or you could share it with the world; it all depends on how you view your life. Is it worth sharing? Even your deepest, darkest secrets?

But why stop at humans? Whenever I come home, I like to sit and watch my dog dream. It's one of those rare moments that brings a smile to everyone's face, no matter who you are. It tells me something, though. My dog's brain is processing what he's done that day or the day before or the year before and bringing it back for him to experience. What if this "brain indexing" could take not only his past but his present decisions and memories and form them into a complex profile? I know he's not going to live much longer, and I know it's going to tear me apart. If we were 300 years into the future, what I suggest might be possible. I know it won't happen even a few years from now... but eventually, there might be a chance for human and non-human animals to live together in their dreamworld.

The thought of leaving this world with a thumbprint of myself staying behind is a beautiful one. For the present... I can only dream.