A possible scenario with an age old question

Having just reread Arthur C Clark’s 4 book Space Odyssey, I was left with a question that may be worthy of discussion. In the last book 3001, he mentions how they were able to scan a person’s mind using a BRAIN CAP. This cap would do two things, one it would scan the brain for any kind of mental illness, and two it would allow the brain to receive data. Primarily the cap was for learning large amounts of specific data where it was stored as accessible memory. You could ‘know’ how to fly a plane in a ten minute download. Another cool thing it could do was store your data on a terabyte disc, enough so that an entire lifetime could be saved for later applications.

When this was first introduced, the people were divided about using it. Like today’s ‘smart card’, it was used as a way to make the public’s life a bit easier. Then it was made compulsory for anyone who did business to use this. Eventually it was used as a security measure, and anyone who did not voluntarily accept it was a labeled a suspect, and were subject to penalties. This in of itself conjures up questions about security vs. freedom. But, the question here for me lies with if there was a brain cap in existence and it could potentially end crime by pointing out mental problems and offering solutions before it manifested, would you participate for the good of mankind? I understand that first instinct is to resist change, and not trust anything that may infringe on your basic rights, but if you could say that within one generation crime could be a thing of the past, would you consider allowing it? Initially, I said no. There is nothing good about offering the government a peak at your mind, and be able to judge you on its findings. Then after sleeping on it, I thought myself selfish to deny a possibly better civilization for my children. Even if this cap could do no more than read the mind, and the ability to download education was generations off, the possibilities are staggering. I am thoroughly vexed here. Is the advancement of man-kind through technology at the sacrifice of basic human rights a fair trade? Am I being idealistic in thinking this would be a good thing? Should I have kept my guard up and stuck with No Way, as an answer?

Given today’s society, would we dare risk it all on a chance at a better life?
Please add to this, perhaps a group mind think may help me decide if it were worth the risk.



Edit: perhaps we should move this to RATS?

[edit on 20/2/08 by shadow watcher]