Essay about Brain Implants

📌Category: Health, Human Body, Illness
📌Words: 1231
📌Pages: 5
📌Published: 14 June 2021

The Human brain is incredibly complex in its function and purpose. But what if there was a way to improve its function, to make it a biological computer in your head. To have access to the internet not with your fingertips but with your mind. There are also aliments that effect the brain in harmful ways, such as disease, trauma, and injury. Currently the implants used for health purposes come with many harmful side effects and invasive surgery practices to be considered effective means of tackling the health problems they are meant to combat. With further research in brain implants, diseases such as Epilepsy, Parkinson’s and Dystonia could be diseases that will not have to affect anyone’s life anymore.

So, what are brain implants, currently the implants that are on the market are Deep Brain Stimulation implants, that send electrical impulses to help control irregular impulses in the brain. In the future the new implants want to be a form of entertainment, a device that can connect to the internet with just the mind. This will include advancements in the health implants to expand the diseases that can be treated with an implant but also increase to effectiveness of diseases that implants treat. 

The main manufacturers of Deep Brain Stimulators are Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic Plc, Abbott Laboratories, NeuroPace Inc and some others. These are the health implants researchers and creators. Neuralink is just putting its foot in the market, which is expected to grow to 2.1 billion dollars by 2028. But Neuralink wants to provide something that differs from the others, while it still wants to create health implants, they also have a vison of the entertainment implant. The implant that can connect to the internet and allow access to technology through our minds. They are not the only company to work on this technology, they are the most talked about since the owner is Elon Musk, who is know as a trailblazer in many industries.

Health is something we take for granted unless we have aliment that we have to worry about, but for the most part we only go to a doctor if we feel something wrong. Others are born with diseases that affect their daily lives; this is where current brain implants are used. Dystonia are disease were depending on the severity causes sporadic or sustained muscles to contract, this causes patients to be unable to move or perform daily tasks. The exact cause for Dystonia is still unknow but it is assumed to stem from the brain, this is where brain implants are needed. They can help to treat diseases such as Dystonia and many others. In the future, the new implants will be able to cure these diseases by controlling the brain or replacing part of its function entirely. Then looking at the entertainment implants, people always look for something new to gain their attention. This could connect people to a whole new world of possibilities, as we are slowly moving to a world that is always connected to the internet. The Brain implant that could fulfill our desire to always be up to date with the world and what is happening now, the implant could be the next progression of this behavior.

Direct Stakeholders for brain implants are the Companies that create them, with more research and increasing what aliments they can treat, it increases their gain. We the people are also direct stakeholders, the more health issues that are treated, the better our overall quality of life. Indirect stakeholders are the doctors and surgeons that will be providing the service of implanting the brain devices. 

Survey of Benefits & Drawbacks

Looking at the benefits brain implants could provide, the obvious is increased health for victims of the treatable diseases that fall under a implants scope of care. Another benefit is more research in the function of the brain and how it operates our own functions. If the implants want to replace these functions, then a greater level of understanding is needed. Potential Drawbacks of future brain implants is what an always connected person, who already is glued to their phone will act with an access point to the internet always with you. We are barely understanding what a connected world, one with a surplus of information are constantly at our fingertips, will affect our society. If we make a problem worse, what outcomes will it have in our society. Another drawback is the requirement for surgery to gain an implant, this is a tall order of entry just to have internet in your head. There is also a 16.9% mortality rate after 10 years of surgery, while low it still is a risk to think about.

Critical Analysis

Most Significant Benefits & Drawbacks

The most significant benefit that brain implants could provide is the health improvement it could provide the millions that are affected by brain related diseases. This will improve so many people’s quality of life, they no longer must suffer from diseases that we do not know the cause of like Dystonia. People with Epilepsy no longer must worry about having a seizure while living their life, it can erase fear form people’s lives. The health aspect of the implants cannot be overlooked, it could be the next jump in medicine. Where chemicals are not the only means of treatment, it would be a manmade a product to replace a biological function. Much like a pacemaker replaces the function of the heart by stabilizing its pulse, the brain implant can regulate the brain or other functions it provides.

The future implants impact to negatively affect our society would be the greatest drawback. What would people who can be on the internet with just a thought, how would they act differently? We already have a problem with distracted drivers with phones behind the wheel, what if the phone is not able to be seen? There is a plethora of problems that could stem from this technology, we already have a short attention span the new brain implants could make that worse. This unknown possible effect on society is why we should be wary of something that is trying to replace something that is not broken. 

Systems Thinking & Normative Ethics

Looking deeper into the ethics of brain implants and how they could interact with society. We will be analyzing them using normative ethics and systems thinking. As well as using Aristotelian virtue ethics.

People will exhibit virtue ethics when looking at brain implants for health purposes. This is the right thing to do, anyone would say that if you improve the quality of life of your fellow man, it is the obvious choice. To stop the suffering of millions of people or even yourself, in all people this will pander to their inherit kindness and generosity.  Looking at the loop diagram, there are many reinforcing loops involving the health aspects of the brain implant. Eudaimonia for the stockholders in this situation to flourish, the people will benefit from a healthy life. A healthy life is a start to a “Good” life, one that will not be weighed down by having bad health to affect their life. As soon as one’s health improves this opens the ability for their life to only flourish further. Looking at the company, not only increasing their monetary gain but also improving their public image. A company whose sole purpose is to increase people’s quality of life, they are destined to flourish in this environment.

Now if you look at the future implants you see consequentialist, if you do not stay up to date with new technology you feel left out and excluded from the general population. So, you join them, to not be left out. The need to be socially accepted means a lot, this means adopting things, so you do not feel the consequences of not doing so. Open-mindedness to look at the new technology and accept it to the point of use. To see if you will be able to incorporate it in your.

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