Imagine that you have been asked to prepare an article in a psychology newslette
ID: 3445206 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine that you have been asked to prepare an article in a psychology newsletter on the ethical implications of learning enhancement. Write a reflection paper that discusses your own ethical viewpoint toward the use of brain enhancement. Some of the issues you might consider in preparing your paper are:
• What types of pharmaceutical enhancements are currently being used? Of these, which ones are commonly considered acceptable, which ones are controversial?
• What types of brain/computer interfaces have already taken place? What might be the future of such interfaces?
• Will brain enhancements be equally available to all diverse groups? What happens if they are not?
• Who controls how brains are enhanced and who receives enhancement?
Explanation / Answer
Brain enhancement is a topic of huge interest in the media and the academic literature. One of the most discussed form of brain enhancement is pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE) which usually refers to the use of certain prescription substances.The term usually refers to the off-label use of medical substances to improve mental performance in healthy individuals. Ethically this treatment is debatable even though it is widely used.As with all medical procedures, there might be side effects and yet-unknown long-term health risks with substances such as methylphenidate.Non-users tend to believe that such substances are addictive, might induce sleep disorders and may even lead to mental health problems. Findings suggest that natural remedies are perceived as less harmful than PCE substances. people morally object more to the application of PCE substances if they are artificial rather than natural, and if they are taken in the form of injections rather than pills Another ethical issue is the freedom to make a choice to agree to go under this treatment.A main concern is that people are being pressured or even coerced into enhancing themselves. This might happen either indirectly in the form of peer pressure or potentially directly in certain workplaces with long working hours and high demands on cognitive functioning. Another ethical viewpoint is related to the fairness or justice of the treatment used.Honesty and authenticity are both related to effort that has to be invested to achieve a certain task. The underlying assumption is that when high performance is achieved with less effort—as might be the case when PCE substances are taken—this might be less fair compared to performance that is achieved with substantial effort. Honesty relates to the social aspect of this assumption and reflects the effect of PCE use on other individuals, for example in a competitive environment where PCE use might be seen as cheating. Authenticity relates to the individual PCE user and questions whether his/her performance under PCE, often seen as a situation in which effort is discounted, is an authentic performance. It is based on the underlying belief that putting in effort shapes the experience of an individual and thus affects a future individual that does not gain the same experience while using PCE. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) allow their users to communicate or control external devices using brain signals rather than the brain's normal output pathways of peripheral nerves and muscles.Individuals who are severely disabled by disorders such as, cerebral palsy, brainstem stroke, spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophies, or chronic peripheral neuropathies might benefit from BCIs. The potential clinical uses of BCIs can be classified as:direct control of assistive technologies and neurorehabilitation. Commercial brain-computer interfaces that you can plug into your computer’s USB port have been around for a good four or five years now, and in the last couple of years we’ve seen advanced BCIs that can be implanted directly into your brain. BCI could be helpful especially for safety applications or applications where it is instantaneously difficult to move and the response time is crucial. Besides they can also be used to increase the accuracy of the HCI systems, resulting in BCI contribution in various fields such as industry, educational, advertising, entertainment, and smart transportation. Mental state monitoring function of BCI systems has also contributed in forecasting and detecting health issues such as abnormal brain structure (such as brain tumor), Seizure disorder (such as epilepsy), Sleep disorder (such as narcolepsy), and brain swelling (such as encephalitis) If limited access to effective brain enhancement is a problem, then probably could manage it in a much better by making enhancements available to everyone than by trying, probably unsuccessfully, to prohibit them to anyone. Making it available to everyone depends upon the choice people make to use it.Their appropriate use will depend on their safety and effectiveness, along with how we choose to use them and what steps we take to mitigate the challenges to fairness they may pose or the invasions of individual autonomy they may provoke. College students, scientists, entrepreneurs, investment bankers, and Silicon Valley geeks are among those taking the brain enhancing substances to sharpen their minds and stay competitive with their peers.