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> [..] abused to make them also complacent, obedient, work twice with half the pay without complaining and buy the highest bidding brand. Not to worry, the new

by bArray 5y ago

> [..] abused to make them also complacent, obedient, work twice with half the pay without complaining and buy the highest bidding brand. Not to worry, the new brain implant provides immediate relief from negative feelings about the brain implant! You'll be hysterically cackling in no time on your way to work at your third minimum wage job in the mines, with a protein snack made of an assortment of bugs. In all seriousness, this is highly concerning, especially in conjunction with the powers that have been given so easily during the COVID pandemic. Imagine in 10 years time it is declared that there is a 'depression pandemic', and for the better health of yourself and those around you, you must get your anti-depression implant in order to return back to work, and without your implant passport you will not be allowed into bars, restaurants, etc. Those that have already had the implant call you 'anti-Science' and publicly ridicule you as a second-class citizen. The President at the time publicly declares "our patience is running thin", as pressure ramps up to combat yet another infectious wave of depression. The government promises "the implant will only be used to track and trace contact with those suspected of having depression", but soon the police realise that such technology could also be used in "exceptional" criminal cases, where your state of mind around the place of the crime can be submitted as evidence to your involvement. Once there is some acceptance and legal standing, the use becomes more and more common place. Eventually some smart people realize that there is some pattern of behaviour for people who are about to commit a crime, and so pre-crime arrests and thought-crimes arise. The future has never looked so safe!

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Taywee 5y ago
In the city I live, people couldn't even be convinced to wear a cloth mask for basically any reason, and people picketed an elementary school because the district implemented a mask recommendation. I can imagine your scenario, it's an interesting enough thought for some dystopian fiction, but I don't think the clear one-to-one analogy between an infectious disease and crippling depression work in any way at all. In the COVID case, it's an infectious disease with some possible long-term damage, high rate of infection, relatively moderate risk of death, and a scramble to try to contain or slow the spread. I don't see how any of that can be compared to depression, a non-contagious disorder that very often destroys all quality of life in the sufferers. Honestly, I don't see any gain in this incredible pessimism. A brain implant seems to have some potential to allow some people to have hope in successfully living a life that isn't controlled by a cloud of grey, and the first worry is in a dystopian government using it to brain control the public, because there is a pattern of behavior in how governments desperately tried to control a pandemic in the past?
- kongin 5y ago
  > but I don't think the clear one-to-one analogy between an infectious disease and crippling depression work in any way at all. >> Depression isn’t contagious in the same way the flu is, but moods and emotions can spread. Have you ever watched a friend laugh so hard that you started laughing? Or listened to a co-worker complain for so long that you started feeling negative, too? In this way, moods — and even depressive symptoms — can be contagious. >> We’ll explain how it works, what the science says, and what to do if you feel like you’ve “caught” depression from a loved one. >> Researchers call it a variety of things, including network phenomenon, social contagion theory, and group emotional contagion theory. https://www.healthline.com/health/is-depression-contagious https://www.healthline.com/health/is-depression-contagious You're killing grandma by being unhappy.
grayhatter 5y ago
Honestly, if a brain implant was proven to be as safe as vaccination, and could get me to be happy while working 3 jobs in a mine and eating bugs. I probably would sign up. Also, pretending this whole argument isn't a pathos charged slippery slope analogy. Why would I go bars, restaurants, etc if there was a risk I could expose others to depression. Which I must assume is somehow contagious now, and somewhat fatal? Seems awfully inhumane and immoral to subject people to this new somewhat lethal contagious depression. More generally though, why is it highly concerning? Are you afraid of hypotheticals? Or does that just feel like what you have to say to rationalize your existing fears about the ongoing pandemic, and societies unmeasured response?
- kongin 5y ago
  > Honestly, if a brain implant was proven to be as safe as vaccination, and could get me to be happy while working 3 jobs in a mine and eating bugs. I probably would sign up. I'd shoot the nearest billionaire to encourage the others.
  - grayhatter 5y ago
    what does that even mean?
    - kongin 5y ago
      It means anyone who is in charge of a society where you need to work 18 hours a day to afford to eat bugs is not protected by the social contract. If enough of those people are killed the rest of them will get the memo that they'll live longer if they hoarded less wealth.
- hoseja 5y ago
  Depression certainly has fatality rate. And do you think it could not be construed as contagious?
  - grayhatter 5y ago

by bArray 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Taywee 5y ago

In the city I live, people couldn't even be convinced to wear a cloth mask for basically any reason, and people picketed an elementary school because the district implemented a mask recommendation. I can imagine your scenario, it's an interesting enough thought for some dystopian fiction, but I don't think the clear one-to-one analogy between an infectious disease and crippling depression work in any way at all. In the COVID case, it's an infectious disease with some possible long-term damage, high rate of infection, relatively moderate risk of death, and a scramble to try to contain or slow the spread. I don't see how any of that can be compared to depression, a non-contagious disorder that very often destroys all quality of life in the sufferers. Honestly, I don't see any gain in this incredible pessimism. A brain implant seems to have some potential to allow some people to have hope in successfully living a life that isn't controlled by a cloud of grey, and the first worry is in a dystopian government using it to brain control the public, because there is a pattern of behavior in how governments desperately tried to control a pandemic in the past?

kongin 5y ago
> but I don't think the clear one-to-one analogy between an infectious disease and crippling depression work in any way at all. >> Depression isn’t contagious in the same way the flu is, but moods and emotions can spread. Have you ever watched a friend laugh so hard that you started laughing? Or listened to a co-worker complain for so long that you started feeling negative, too? In this way, moods — and even depressive symptoms — can be contagious. >> We’ll explain how it works, what the science says, and what to do if you feel like you’ve “caught” depression from a loved one. >> Researchers call it a variety of things, including network phenomenon, social contagion theory, and group emotional contagion theory. https://www.healthline.com/health/is-depression-contagious https://www.healthline.com/health/is-depression-contagious You're killing grandma by being unhappy.

grayhatter 5y ago

Honestly, if a brain implant was proven to be as safe as vaccination, and could get me to be happy while working 3 jobs in a mine and eating bugs. I probably would sign up. Also, pretending this whole argument isn't a pathos charged slippery slope analogy. Why would I go bars, restaurants, etc if there was a risk I could expose others to depression. Which I must assume is somehow contagious now, and somewhat fatal? Seems awfully inhumane and immoral to subject people to this new somewhat lethal contagious depression. More generally though, why is it highly concerning? Are you afraid of hypotheticals? Or does that just feel like what you have to say to rationalize your existing fears about the ongoing pandemic, and societies unmeasured response?

kongin 5y ago
> Honestly, if a brain implant was proven to be as safe as vaccination, and could get me to be happy while working 3 jobs in a mine and eating bugs. I probably would sign up. I'd shoot the nearest billionaire to encourage the others.
- grayhatter 5y ago
  what does that even mean?
  - kongin 5y ago
    It means anyone who is in charge of a society where you need to work 18 hours a day to afford to eat bugs is not protected by the social contract. If enough of those people are killed the rest of them will get the memo that they'll live longer if they hoarded less wealth.
hoseja 5y ago
Depression certainly has fatality rate. And do you think it could not be construed as contagious?
- grayhatter 5y ago