The 1984 future is already here. I was watching the
demonstration of a beta monitor on TV. The user wore
head phones with sensors in them that sensed alpha and
beta brain waves. The device was connected to a
computer that could signal switches such as for lights
going on or chairs going up or down.
When the volunteer put the head phone device on
their head, the female demonstrator asked them to try
raising and lowering the chair they were in. As they
listened to the demonstrator you could see the beta
wave display go higher on the screen indicating the
participant was listening the girl explaining the
device. She was anxious to point that out. When the
participant listened, the beta wave display would go
higher on the screen and the female demonstrator would
say: "see you're listening to me." It was obviously
the demonstrator's favorite part as her eye brows went
up and her poster straightened when she said it.
Inadvertently what the demonstrator was doing was
pointing out the most intense application for this
devise; monitoring the user's attention. Imagine an
instructor trying to make sure a student understood
what they were saying. The instructor could watch the
beta wave display while as the student listens.
Imagine a company explaining an important manufacturing
process to new employees, in order to increase
productivity and eliminate costly mistakes. Imagine
interrogation.
The delight in the female demonstrator's
explanation belayed a new found power she seemed to
enjoy. This expression of power belays an
institutional value for this device that may soon
become apparent in the work place and beureaucratic
agencies, I fear, and invade our freedom of thought.
