From: minsky@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Marvin Minsky)
Subject: Re: Ultimate input hardware
Date: 15 Feb 91 20:51:15 GMT
Organization: MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA


In article <16473@milton.u.washington.edu> wjbaird@dahlia.uwaterloo.ca (Warren B
aird) writes:

>I do agree that a machine that could actively read the thoughts of a
>person would be a very dangerous tool...

A brick is a very dangerous tool.  What isn't?  But a mind-reading
machine would be a path to straightening out minds.  People could read
their own minds, find the bad stuff in them, and fix them (using the
utility programs developed for that purpose).  Mind-reading very
likely leads to downloading and immortality as well.  I presume that
it has been pointed out that any prejudice that stands in the way of
indefinite life-extension is more dangerous than anything else.  So
please be careful not to keep thinking such unspeakably dangerous
thoughts ;-)