Could artificially enhanced memory be within our grasp?

Could augmented cognition make a difference to mindfulness?

We were intrigued to read a new article in Forbes linking progress in brain-machine interfaces with the potential not just to repair, but to augment human cognition.

Along with the promise of breakthroughs in Parkinsons, blindness and other neurological conditions, might we boost our memories too? With a connected, artificial hippocampus, might we be able to download a new language in milliseconds? Perhaps it is not as far fetched as it sounds.

The article touches upon the idea that with enhanced cognition comes a threat to our individuality, as we lose the sharp edges between mine and ours. We wonder what this might mean for mindfulness? Perhaps only good things. In the West we have a tendency to over-emphasize individualism, using mindfulness as a tool of self-care, and to gloss over the parts of the Eastern tradition which stress selflessness, collective action and compassion. But we lose something in the doing. When we are able for a moment to look not just inwards but outwards, softening the imagined boundary between self and surroundings, we find ourselves glorious free of self preoccupation, and better able to tend to the needs of others (further creating the conditions for us to thrive).

The author also asks whether this also threaten to further widen the gap between haves and have nots? Difficult questions, but questions worth asking as the development accelerates.

We’ll be watching this growing field with great interest.