“Doctor! Doctor! The implant is working! He’s got his first word out!”
“Whats the word, Jerry?”
“Never!”
“Amazing, keep monitoring him.”
“We’ve got another word Doctor! It’s ‘gonna’!”
“Keep me informed Jerry! This is amazing!”
“Doctor, the next word is ‘give’ !”
"Okay… "
"We got another word Doctor! It’s ‘you’! "
“Pull the fucking plug Jerry”
Damnit, now I have to make this real.
Feel free to adapt it however you want, into a web comic or what have you. I’d love to see it
Not reality though
Pffft you’re not my mom.
On one hand, amusing.
On the other hand, goddamn what an amazing development of medical science.
I mean, yeah, it was an amazing development…
Like 20 years ago when it was developed.
That’s why this picture of an article is about the amusing part.
Hah, wasn’t even aware.
You mean beer? Damn straight the single best medical discovery in history.
This reminds me when I remember reading a research article about patients that appeared comatose. Some patients that eventually woke up reported being totally conscious the entire time and able to recount conversations that occurred in the room when they were still comatose as proof. So the researcher knows that at least a percentage of comatose patients aren’t actually comatose, but just totally locked in their bodies but fully aware and awake. The researcher does work with brain scan (realtime Functional MRI) which can see brain scans as up to the second they happen. Experimenting with volunteers that were not comatose the researcher figured out that you can come up with two specific radically different things and be able to tell which one of the two the person was concentrating on.
As an example: imagine an apple sitting on a table. Sunlight shining off the red skin of the apple, etc. Now think about the concept of love (however you define it). Those two things use very different parts of your brain. A researcher with a fMRI machine can learn what your specific brain looks like when you’re thinking about one thing or the other thing.
With this you would now have a way to communicate two states without being able to move muscle or say a word. You then decide that thinking “love” means “yes” and thinking “apple” means “no”. You now have the ability to answer yes or no questions with only your brain…even if you appear comatose but are fully awake.
The researcher then went on to explain that they haven’t, and won’t try it on any comatose-appearing patients? Why? It came down to the problem if the patient asks to die. The only way to avoid having to face the question…was to never do the thing allowing it to be asked.
The researcher then went on to explain that they haven’t, and won’t try it on any comatose-appearing patients? Why? It came down to the problem if the patient asks to die. The only way to avoid having to face the question…was to never do the thing allowing it to be asked.
That sucks, because if I was comatose with no expectation of ever recovering then dying would be high up there although having the ability to communicate would probably reduce that desire.
I love hearing about research like this. But yeah, that would be an ethical dilemma. Especially determining how much you trust that your system works, and proving that they are of sound enough mind to make such a decision even if they’re answering yes/no.
I don’t remember the article raising questions about determining the patient’s mental sanity as to whether an affirmative answer to “asking to die” was enough. That’s an aspect I never even considered.
I also appreciate that the researcher, who is clearly very smart to even have gotten this far in understanding the technology and its implications, is also smart enough to understand they themselves don’t have the full capacity raise and answer this question ethically to be able to move forward.
Paralyzed guy: “I love my cool son”
Cool son: :D
Other son:
Did he get a beer?
No beer and, according to the fine print, he was then forced to interact with his family. Such a tragic story.
Cruel and unsual punishment, and he didnt even commit a crime.
Tragic.
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No and they made him listen to Creed instead of Tool
Bastards!
Asking the real question.
I’ve been trying to find a definitive answer and so far I haven’t found it.
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“don’t…forget…to drink your…Ovaltine?”
I talk a lot about my work with developmentally and mentally disabled adults.
I want yall to know me and (one of the people I care for, a rad as hell old lady) are having a couple cold ones and watching football on Sunday.
(They’re non-alcoholic. She doesn’t mind. And I wouldn’t drink real beer on the job.)
Live your lives, folks.
God damned it they couldn’t figure out a grown man wanted his god damned beer without resorting to future tech? Of course he wants a beer! EVERYONE wants a beer! The suffering he must have gone through… poor man.
Godspeed brother from another mother 🙏
How is it that a man who is completely paralyzed is in a better mood than I. Literally, I wake up every morning and say a few cuss words because I woke up again. I’m fully able, but just don’t want to do this anymore. Against amazing odds I’m still here, and yet I’m very very unenthused with that fact.
On the other hand this man is trapped in what most would consider a fucking nightmare, and he’s cool with it. I wonder how much of that depends on stress and support networks. After all it sounds like his family loves him a lot. Where as when I went to jail, and they asked who to contact in case of emergency or death. I told them no one. Because I literally have no one.
Oh well, that’s enough pity partying. Time to get off the toilet and start a new day.
I hope things pick up for you man.
Thanks man! Unfortunately, my life has been a series of shit storms with small moments of rest when the eye passes over almost since I was born. So, I doubt the forecast calls for better weather anytime soon.
I’ve been thinking about starting a community that’s just stories about my life experiences. Everyone I’ve told about my life agrees that it’s pretty entertaining as long as you’re not the one living it. Stuff like the time I accidentally hung out with a murderer a couple of days after he killed and a day or two before he turned himself in and he described in detail the murder to me. There was also the time my dope dealer called me and my wife at the time to try some drugs and make sure they were good. Only, to see a man overdose at a HUGE drug deal and me and my dealer worked feverishly to revive the man lest one of us have to dump the body. Ya know, stuff like that.
Also, there are good things. Like, they hiv positive gay man that was way more patient with me than I deserved. He taught me about empathy, and gave me a safe place to get away from my dad, and all he ever asked in return was my friendship. He probably taught me more about being a man than my dad ever did.
As with everything in life. The truth is more gray than black and white. Also, like it says in the prophet or in that mad season song if you prefer “My pain is self chosen”. I don’t blame anyone but myself for my current predicament. Sure some problems are circumstantial but most are poor decisions. A whole lot of “let’s see where this goes” kind of behavior.
Sorry for the wall of text. I’m bored, but I’m sure you have stuff to do today. I hope you have a wonderful day.
Edit: I mentioned the fact that the man was hiv positive because that happened in the mid-90s. It was a way bigger deal back then.
Old war-stories are always entertaining once you confidently know they’re in the past and aren’t continuing. I hope that’s true for you, or you’re on the way to making it true.
K…i…l…l…m…e…
Link to the article: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/paralysed-man-brain-implant-beer-b2044610.html
This story is from a while back. The tech is super exciting and a little scary.
Guy had his priorities right though
Metallica one… I fucking love that song
Kudos to this guy, glad he can communicate a bit.
I think I’d want something stronger than a beer, tho. And a lot more than one. Bottle of rye, maybe. Some edibles.
