There are ideas that make you think, there are ideas that make you raise your eyebrows and then there are ideas that make you go, "Whaaaat??". Even though we are already nineteen years into the 21st century, we still are not habituated with bizarre ideas that change our lives.
That's after a century of advancements that in hindsight seem like no-brainers but were definitely once considered magical. By now, I guess we should have come to expect the unexpected and utterly impossible seeming ideas to become reality.
One such idea that I have been thinking about recently is the idea of uploading skill and knowledge to the brain. You've probably seen this in the movie "matrix" where different skills such as martial arts are uploaded into Neo's character. Within a few moments, he goes from knowing nothing about martial artist to becoming an expert.
Would such a thing be possible for us humans in the future? Scratch that. I definitely think that this is going to be possible. But the more important question is that, would this make education obsolete?
Everybody Knows Everything
Imagine a distant future, probably fifty to a hundred years down the road. People are able to upload any skill or knowledge directly to their brains, the same way we transfer data from a pen drive or internet to a computer.
If there is something you need to understand or learn, you simply upload it, instead of spending countless hours on it, like humans once used to in the early 21st century. Literally any skill can be purchased and each one has its own price. Some skills are cheaper and some are more expensive.
If this sounds impossible to you, think again. There are already so many companies in the world that are trying to establish a symbiotic relationship between the human brain and electronic devices, the most popular perhaps being Neuralink, headed by Elon Musk.
It is only a matter of time until this is achieved and once done, this technology will provide a digital aspect or a digital accessory to the brain itself. Once that is done, we would easily be able to connect to anything digital, like the internet for example.
Once that is done, everyone will know everything because we would simply be able look it up on the internet and it will be much faster because we could simply "think" about it and it will be known. The same could happen with skills as well.
Once the brain gains a digital aspect, virtually anything would be possible. In my opinion, that will be the end of educational institutions as we know it. Why would you send your kids to school/colleges to learn things for two decades which could be done within minutes!
That would bring a monstrous change to our societies and our whole species like never before. The scale of it is quite terrifying actually but I think it is something that is inevitable. How we deal with it, is anyone's guess.
I remember thinking about this futuristic leaning possibility back when I was 10 years old. This was the year of 2002, and I never thought it could become a reality so early...although I knew it would happen....
#STEEMPIONEERS
#ESTEEM
#STEEMTRIBALUTOPIA2047
That really is quite mind-blowing to think about in every sense. But I don't doubt it will happen at some point. The first question that arises in my mind is 'who gets to decide the skills or education each person receives?".
Yeah, it is mind blowing for sure. I guess no one will decide. It will just be like buying smartphones. We can simply buy whatever skills we need or feel like having.
I hope I am still alive to see it.
Education will still be needed. People equate knowledge and skill to ability, but that is not the real case. Most people know how to use a pencil, they have that "skill", but can they do an artistic rendering of a scene in nature? or a pencil portrait of a person or cat or dog? They have the skill to use the pencil, they have the knowledge uploaded as to how to structure a picture, what needs to be done and how to do it. All that information is currently readily available on the internet and as far as drawing that has been available in comic book advertisements of "Learn to draw" so and so. I can look and find all that information knowledge and skill building exercise, I would still not be an Artist.
The practical side then. most people know how to use a hammer and saw. Some of even know how to read a blue print, does that mean I can build a modern house? Possible, it would take a lot of time to do so however. There is a lot more to building a house then using a hammer and a saw.
Yes, I can see the plug in and learn ability becoming something, however there will always be a need for education and for teachers. Just as there are even in this day and age places, peoples, and cultures that some people have never heard of, if you do not know something is out there, how do you find it? I find new stuff, people, places, cultures and areas I have never heard of everyday on the steem blockchain.
Then there is the issue of just how much information can a human brain hold, recall, and use. At what point do we have to delete information to make room for new information?
Me I am all for downloading direct, I think it is a wonderful concept, it may even work for some skill sets. If it involves having to pay for it, then it will never be a viable education system, more of a control system. The haves will have even more, and the have nots will always have nothing.
Information that is to be downloaded into the brain can always be altered, because someone has to input the initial information.
I totally agree with "if you do not know something is out there, how do you find it" and hence some form of education and so teachers will be needed. Also, ethics and moralities are something that might not be as simple as just an upload and so parents/teachers will be needed to teach these in the conventional way.
I don't know about how much the brain can handle. Apparently there are trillions of neurons, so I assume the capacity there is really huge.
I do not agree with "People equate knowledge and skill to ability, but that is not the real case". The definition of 'skill' is ... "the ability to do something". So, looking at your example, let's say if such a technology is developed some day, then we will not only be able to 'learn to use a pencil' but we will also learn to 'do an artistic rendering of a scene in nature'. Let's take the example of the Matrix movie. Neo already knew how to use his hands and legs, but when the martial arts skill was uploaded, he was able to use those hands and legs in a way that an expert martial artist does.
I think that in the future world, there will be a market place of skills, just like how there are marketplaces for smartphones, and we could simply choose what skills we want, pay for it, and have it uploaded. Of course, we wouldn't want those skills available on the market that can potentially make a person harmful to the society.
I love your thoughts on this. They made me think deeper. :))
i have also thought this concept a lot.
to my opinion there are 2 sides.
the possitive side would be that learning will be very eazy somethink i beleve is importand for human kind future evolusion. think that now to create a new theory, lets say in physicks, you must learn all the availiable knowlenge first before you go a step further. So at some point human life whould not be enought to learn all the knowlege and move ahead so instanly learning is the only way to keep evolving as specie.
On the other side think a guy like Hitler hide viruses on the content we download for our brains 😀
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You make some really interesting points. I agree :)
if you like Matrix and you have seen also John Wick you can read about my fan theory here!
https://partiko.app/selfmadebastard/my-fan-theory-is-john-wick-in-the-matrix-what-if-neo-took-the-plue-pill-in-a-parallel-reallity-wlso7l0p?referrer=selfmadebastard
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Thanks!