Getting back on the initial topic, when reading this article, as the thoughts of how this technology could be used were running through my head, I definitely had more negative thoughts than positive ones. While the technology can be seen as "fascinating research" on how the brain works now, when it actually becomes a common piece of technology (which it will; anything that can make money will become something that is produced and distributed to the public for profit), there are going to be many severe violations of privacy. There are already large debates over privacy issues today, for example, the Patriot Act under the Bush administration (whose name is meant to give us a positive view of something that really has nothing to do with patriotism at all.) People are upset over the body scanners in airports, as well as treatment by the TSA in certain cases when a medical condition would make a physical body scan humiliating. Taking one's personal thoughts and memories is one of the worst possible privacy violations I can think of. I cannot remotely imagine what violations this technology would lead to. I'm sure, like all technology, it will eventually become a portable, hand held device that anyone can have access to (even if it were to be illegal, most of the time, with the right connections, you can get one anyway.) The number of malicious ways to use this is innumerable. As technology evolves, generally things become smaller, more portable, and eventually wireless. I can see this technology being put on whatever the future's version of a smartphone will be. It's possible that with enough research, you could read into someone's thoughts without them even knowing, unless it is deemed illegal to use without ones consent (even though there could still be exceptions to this law.) In law enforcement, you will no longer be able to plead the fifth. If you really are innocent, but think of something that could incriminate you, such as a potential motive for the crime or some circumstantial, but false evidence that has not been discovered yet, you could easily get locked up for something that you didn't do, especially since it has not been uncommon in the past for law enforcement to incriminate the easiest person, and not continue to look for the right person. Criminals (who wouldn't care about any legality issues) could use this to find out where you live, where you'll be at a certain time, etc. Parents could use this to see what their children are really up to, which in some extreme cases, could be a good thing (i.e. preventing them from buying a gun), but in general, I think that this would do more psychological damage to that generation, which would have a landslide of negative effects. Everyone is supposed to have a side of them that they do not show to others. Kids are also supposed to rebel against their parents; it is a way of growing up, making ones own mistakes, and eventually learning how to be an adult. Many children with overbearing parents (but not all) already have been effected negative psychologically by not having specific freedoms to live ones own life; if parents can read into their children's own thoughts, this effect would worsen exponentially. This is not to mention that something like this could be used at schools. Many would say that it would be unconstitutional, but that would not stop it from happening in all situations. I've read about privacy violations that have taken place in public schools, in which the administration thought they were perfectly right. One extreme example of this was a case where students were allowed to sign out macs from the school and bring them home to do homework, etc. These computers had a program installed on them to take photographs every thirty seconds, which was supposed to be used only in case of theft. However; this program was often turned on randomly, and the principal and teachers had accessed photographs of the high school students at home, when they are supposed to have full privacy. They even included photographs of the students changing, nude in front of the camera, which the school still thought was justified, in order to see what the students were doing. If something like this can happen, I have no doubt that somewhere mind reading technology would be used for the worst in schools. On a lesser level, it was ruled by the Supreme Court that, while it was constitutional to say the pledge everyday in the morning, it was not constitutional to make a student stand up to say the pledge. I cannot count the number of students who were sent to the principal's office or suspended from not saying the pledge, in extreme cases to be backed up by the ACLU. Even in a case where something is defined by the top level court, which the same schools teach the importance of, to not be allowed, public education will ignore it, thinking that they are somehow above the law, which could end up being the same for a piece of technology like this. On another level, this technology could probably be used in private schools or the workplace, with the knowledge of the students/employees giving someone the feeling that he/she is always being watched, which I can't even imagine the level of strain that would be added to an already stressful workday. This feeling might even bleed into everyday life, giving one something similar to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in which you always feel like you are being watched. Relationships, both with friends and significant others, would be more strained, knowing that there is nothing that is certainly secret from your partner. We could become less trusting as a society, and eventually the paranoia could lead to some sort of downward spiral. I know that some of my examples may seem extreme, but if you look at history and all of the human rights violations that have taken place, I think that that is far from the case. It is possible that our government could prevent this technology from falling into the wrong hands or being misused. However, on a worldwide scale, where there are always corrupt governments or dictatorships somewhere, I feel that if this technology were developed to its full extent, it would definitely be misused somewhere. In a world where the holocaust can happen, where there is genocide in Africa that barely makes the news, it is not a stretch that with technology we could actually turn into the 1984 world that George Orwell wrote about. As one of my favorite books, reading it at the time made it seem like complete science fiction, that was merely used as an extreme metaphor for how corrupt governments work. However, as technology advances, it begins to not seem so impossible after all.
Having gone into the many potential negative effects of such technology (if it even is possible to be developed to that state.) I will concede that there could be some advantages as well. I mentioned law enforcement misusing it earlier, but it is possible that it could have a positive effect on courtrooms as well. If a murderer were under such surveillance, he/she would have to not think about it the entire case, and we all know trying not to think about something doesn't work. If not missed, this could be used to find the location of murder weapons or how someone was killed, which could be used to gather more concrete evidence. It is possible that this study of the brain could lead to other, very important scientific discoveries. It could be used to make things easier for the deaf/mute to communicate, which could potentially make a huge difference in the life of someone with a disability. However, given how I feel about this technology and my cynicism towards the human race, I find that I would rather remain ignorant on this level than go into an entirely "science fiction" world where not even your thoughts are your own.
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