I Know What You're Thinking!

The assumption appeared to be that the world
could be sufficiently understood through fictions,
histories and biographies.
-Ian McEwan,
from his book,
Enduring Love

It's coming true! You may recall a few blogs ago where I mentioned the 1983 movie, BRAINSTORM, starring Natalie Wood.


They would place a contraption over your head and analyze your brain reactions to certain events. It was very "sci-fi" back in the early 1980s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VardFGDZPu4

I saved an article from January 4, 2009 that was featured on "60 Minutes" called 'How Technology May Soon "Read" Your Mind'. Here are a few excerpts that made me raise an eyebrow:

A neuroscientist named Marcel Just and his colleague Tom Mitchell at Carnegie Mellon University have combined fMRI's ability to look at the brain in action with computer science's new power to sort through massive amounts of data. The goal: to see if they could identify exactly what happens in the brain when people think specific thoughts.

"I always tell my students that there is no science fiction anymore. All the science fiction I read in high school, we're doing," Paul Root Wolpe, director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

There are two companies already offering lie detection services using brain scans, one with the catchy name "No Lie MRI."

In India last summer, a woman was convicted of murder after an EEG of her brain allegedly revealed that she was familiar with the circumstances surrounding the poisoning of her ex-fiance.

So here's the million dollar question: if you can brain image me and get information directly from my brain, is that testimony? Or is that like DNA, blood, semen and other things that you could take from me?" Wolpe asked.
"There will be a Supreme Court case about this," he predicts.

fMRI scanning is already being used to try to figure out what we want to buy and how to sell it to us. It's a new field called "neuromarketing." One of its pioneers is neuroscientist Gemma Calvert, co-founder of a London company called Neurosense.
Asked if she has a lot of clients, Calvert told Stahl, "Yes, such as Unilever, Intel, McDonald's, Proctor & Gamble, MTV or Viacom."

"Do you think one day, who knows how far into the future, there'll be a machine that'll be able to read very complex thought like 'I hate so-and-so'? Or you know, 'I love the ballet because…'?" Leslie Stahl reporter from '60 Minutes' asked.

"Definitely. Definitely," Marcel Just said. "And not in 20 years. I think in three, five years."

"In three years?" Stahl asked.

"Well, five," Marcel Just replied with a smile.

If you'd like to read the complete article, then CLICK on this link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/31/60minutes/main4694713.shtml

Twenty-five years ago today:

March 12, 1984

I had trouble closing sales with customers today. Helen had the day off once again. I shared my first break with Michelle and Jesse of the RTOC (Residence Telephone Order Center).

I bought my BILLY IDOL concert tickets. I later learned that the show as 'Sold Out'.

I returned my watch that was pretty 'screwed up'. I had ordered it through 'Innovations' catalog. I guess that was my first mistake.

I rode my bike along the beach after work today. I stopped at Mom's for some of her homemade baked lasagna. I chatted with my brother, Tony, for a while.
"If I don't get promoted by the end of June I'm quitting and devoting my time to my business with Dennis Reno," Tony announced with an authoritative tone.
I have to say I admire his ambitious drive. He must have had some interesting full-throttle business experiences while stationed in the Panama Canal with the Air Force.

Steve Gaster and I talked at work about his bowling league. I shared my fascination for bicycling. He's a pretty cool guy.

David Vigil invited me out for this Saturday night on the town with his pal, Stevie. I may ask Helen to tag along.

I found myself reminscing about George Jones tonight while I was on my therapeutic bike ride. I heard a new song by the Go-Gos called "Head Over Heels" and it made me think of him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR5leVj4s1s
I also find myself thinking of Chris Cordellos frequently now (as I do of Paloma and Maria, the one at I met a dance club in Mexico and Frank Vasconcellos). I plan on calling Frank. He's a "chum".