solarz
Brigadier
Not really, if you control minds, then you are also sacrificing individuality, which is the basis of creativity. How would you expect mind-controlled drones to be able to invent new tools?
Your fantasy Weapons System, if you could have it at home
- Thread starter Jeff Head
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Not really, if you control minds, then you are also sacrificing individuality, which is the basis of creativity. How would you expect mind-controlled drones to be able to invent new tools?
Mind control doesn't mean I reduce a thinking creature to a remote controlled automaton to which I have to personally issue every non-autonomic neural instructions myself. Mind control can mean total mastery over the target's system of desires and motivations, but leaving the target full facility to determine how best to meet the demands of the overwhelming motivations and desires that I planted in its head.
In this case mind control can both enhance and focus creativity. Individuality itself is worthless for furtherence of a common goal, except in the indirect sense that individuality might increase motivation and might boost creativity. If I can already heighten creativity by implanting overwhelming motivations, I have not need for individuality.
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solarz
Brigadier
If you're simply implanting desires and motivations, then you do not really have total mind control.
For example, you can command someone to adore you, it wouldn't prevent that person from killing your favorite concubine or second-in-command out of a fit of jealousy. We see that happen all the time with Evil Overlords. If you start giving more detailed instructions, such as "adore me but don't harm or undermine anybody that works for me", then your instructions will be fighting with that person's jealous/ambitious nature and you'll end up with a somebody with an unstable psyche. *NOT* somebody you would want working on a superweapon.
It's like developing computer programs. If you start from scratch, you have total control over what your program will do. The downside is that you have to do all the work. If you use third-party modules, then you have to get them to play nice with your own application and to play nice with each other. That is sometimes a more difficult task than writing your own code altogether.
Furthermore, if you could manipulate everyone's minds at will, what would be the purpose of life then? You would eventually be able to predict everything everyone ever does. It would be like playing a single-player game. A really complex game with top-notch graphics, but because you're the only person with free will, you will eventually get tired of the game, and then where would you be?
People can have layered motivations and inhibitions. If you can train a soldier to properly interpret orders and carry out mental evaluation of the relative priority of different instructions and inhibitions, then surely you can achieve the same with direct implantation of motivations, goals and inhibitions.
The difference is that is a mere game. You can afford to get tired of a game. Mind control is real life. Your own motivation is different when dealing with real life then dealing with a game.
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kwaigonegin
Colonel
which is why it's fun to talk about them because if the fundemental science is sound it could very well become a reality some day otherwise it becomes boring.. might as well just say I wish I'm GOD or have 100% of the powers that God posseses!
Either you are in "control," or you are not.
If you allow for a creature's "full facilitiy to determine how to meet the demands of overwhelming motivations," then you are giving it judegement. If you give it judegement, you have to allow for some level of determination by that creature in that judgement to fulfill the determination, which leads to endless permeatations within a population of millions...which will also lead to some degree of individuality and creativity...but which will also sow the potential seeds of rebelion.
The more you inhibit that, the less chance for creativity and the development of better technoloogies you will have, and the less chance of defeating enemies outside of your control.
The less you inhibit that, the better chance you will have of developing the better technologies, but also the better chance of having cretures under your control potentiallly break the control.
Such mind control, and such supposed "group think," and "herd," or "hive," mentalities and gestalts are thus generally two-edged swords.
I disagree. You can be in total control, without actually controlling anything in the sense of moving any levers of control. Or you can be in can be in total control through direct control any fraction of all available control levers. The key is knowing what lever does what and how the system responds overall when it is pressed.
Total control means achieving assured results without complications by whatever means necessary. Total control by total direct micromanagement is one way, often the most clumsy, expensive, inefficient, and ineffective way. Total control can also be achieved by applying one single critical manipulation to enable the subsequent events to then flow in predicable manner towards the assured and precise achievement of an end.
Total control therefore means complete dexterity in the most economic use of the available levers to achieving one's end. It does not mean micromanaging every conceivable aspect by grasping all levers at once.
Total mind control therefore means always knowing how make the minimum changes to the target mind consistent achieving all one seeks to achieve by mind control.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Very nice indeed.
If we are going to talk Sci-fi, which is fair game in this thread, then I have to admit that I would opt for a simple hand-held phaser and tricorder combo.
Though I would consider upgrading to the heavier phasor if one was available.
Hope nobody minds a minor tangent, but you know I think Jeff you might be closer to half of that phaser tricorder combo then you think.
the original tricorder was a library computer, a man portable sensor device configurable to operate as a medical scanner, geological toolkit, engineering tool set and anything else Starfleet might need.
now for a long time the communicator was the inspiration for the cell phone.
I think the Tricorder is the inspiration for the smart phone. In the next twenty years I expect four technologies to be integrated into civilian smart phones.
one satellite phone, as private space expands thanks to space X and the like and the price of satellites drops I expect major carriers to offer satellite options for there customers.
Two digital low light. Cameras are getting better and HD is getting better. I expect high quality night vision will be a option.
three APPs that tool up.
how do you build a medical tricorder? You take a smartphone that runs a APP that interfaces with a portable Ultrasound. How do you run a engineering tricorder? Ipod with built in laser level and measuring system.
geology? Built in giger counter, a portable microscope that records images.
Oh yes, with today's smart phones, today's processing capabilities, today's memory, and today's comm busses, we are close. Some medical, scanner, GPS, etc. apps. will emulate things rather nicely
But as I remember, the tricorder also had some rather nifty medicinal/healing capabilities that we are a bit short of yet.