I just read a review of The Naked Brain: How The Emerging Neurosociety is Changing How We Live, Work, and Love in the AARP Bulletin (November issue), written by Carole Fleck. The book's author, Richard Restak, M.D., is a clinical professor of neurology at George Washington University's Medical Center and author of 18 books about the brain.
The article is actually pretty interesting and thought-provoking, which is a good thing, given the subject matter. It raises more questions than it answers, though, and they're big ones. Such as the issue of Big Brother-style intrusion. Restak tells us we could be tested for suitability when job searching. Do appropriate areas of the brain light up when you are asked questions? He suggests that people could be "selected out" because they were deemed less capable.
I wonder if the testing equipment would take into consideration that some people are more nervous than others, or have a more laid-back personality. Would those who have "test fright" score consistently lower and therefore become unemployable, even though they'd be perfectly capable of performing the job for which they have been trained?
Law enforcement could use measures of increased neurological electrical activity when suspects are shown photographs of crime scenes. Restak alleges their reaction will be different from someone who's never seen the crime scene before. But if you showed me a photo of a crime scene, I guarantee my brain would light up like a Christmas tree. I wonder if I would then be tried, convicted, and sent to the slammer for the rest of my natural life.
The section on politics makes me want to search out this book and study it until I am armed with all the facts. I am told that studies on the brain show that the closer the physical resemblance is between a candidate and the voter, the more likely that candidate is to secure the vote.
Article comments
1 - Vikk Simmons
Great questions, Heather. I doubt the government will be there as they are always woefully behind when it comes to ethics and laws governing new technology. And I wont' be surprised if these aren't incorporated in job interviews. On my last interview I had to take one of those truly long personality tests over the phone. The "hit 1 for this answer, 2 for that, etc." type. They were checking your honesty rating and your social skills as it's a retail place. I think it took about 30-45 minutes.
Of course if you can read the question, you can figure out the correct answer. Not sure you can do that with the new tech on the horizon.
2 - Heather Ames
Thanks, Vikk! It makes you wonder how frequently we're being monitored by outside sources, and I for one don't like the idea of being manipulated by having aspects of my personality, etc. being recorded by anyone who thinks it's necessary.