About Mind-reading

Hi All,

We'd discussed in session5 (qualitative research) some of the ethical issues and risks posed by mind-reading-ish technologies. Well, well, just this week, the Economist carried a major piece outlining similar thoughts.
Reading the brain: Mind-goggling

Regarding how far tech has progressed, it says:

Bin He and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota report that their volunteers can successfully fly a helicopter (admittedly a virtual one, on a computer screen) through a three-dimensional digital sky, merely by thinking about it. Signals from electrodes taped to the scalp of such pilots provide enough information for a computer to work out exactly what the pilot wants to do.


That is interesting and useful. Mind-reading of this sort will allow the disabled to lead more normal lives, and the able-bodied to extend their range of possibilities still further. But there is another kind of mind-reading, too: determining, by scanning the brain, what someone is actually thinking about.

Well, imagine the possibilities for psychological and qualitative research then, eh?

Shall append more articles found that are relevant to this post then.

Sudhir