"Pace maker" for the Brain?!?!?!

[GravitasLost]

So I saw a show a couple of days ago where a depressed person and a obsessive-compulsive person had electrodes permanently implanted deep inside their brains and are now connected to a device which stimulates portions of the brain and releaves them of symptoms of their illness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_pacemaker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_brain_stimulation

So this is an overall amazing thing, but... what do you think this could
be like in 10 years? Are we on the verge of using machines to control
our emotions? Here's a question for you.. at some point in the future if you could have a device like this implanted (let's say for free, and assuming there
were no side effects) and never have to feel any negative emotions again, and be happy for the rest of your life, would you do it?

I'd say no. How about you? and why?

[Icypopcorn]

FUCK no!
That's screwy IMO. O_O; I mean, seriously, it is an incredible advancement in technology, and some people are to the point where they need it. But generally- NO. This is just the type of thing I'm against. I'm too lazy to make my point unless anyone wants to say something. 8D

Negative emotions are an important part of life. REALLY important part. Without them we'd be like... that book... The Giver? and a lot of other books/movies/ect. like it. I mean, I don't think there's a way to do that, technically, and it probably won't ever happen, but still.

[ClymAngus]

I think I'll pass I kind of need my negative emotion. How the hell would anyone play bad guys if they were always sweetness and light? I would have thought the military would be interested though. Pacify the populous very useful in a war situation.

[shadowsvoice]

This is already being used on people who have severe cases of tourettes syndrome. As long as it is only done for severe cases I see no problems. Just dont use it to control emotions.

[Okuro]

For very severe cases of whatever disorders these people may have, I say if you can live with it, go for it. As for me...well I'm blessed enough not to have any disorders, so I'm not in any place to say.

[Steven Mane]

Believe me when I say there would be a line outside my door of people urging me to get that implanted. I'm that eccentric.

But, no. I still wouldn't do it. I don't want to smile during a funeral.

[McCorvic Sucks]

I don't see why you guys are pretending that is is so outrageous and unheard of. We all do things that make us happy and escape pain and sadness everyday.

The only reason I wouldn't get one is because I'd be paranoid that it would be used by the government to make me do their bidding or something.

[McCorvic Sucks]

I have tourette's pretty bad. Not as bad as some (and for an example of what I am talking about when I say 'bad', go to youtube and look up the interview they did with Pete Bennett, the winner of Big Brother UK).. but it is still classified as mild - severe.

I used to take medication, but I stopped. I don't take medication anymore, and I would never get something that would stop what I have. It's part of who I am. Unfortunately, tourette's comes with a whole shitload of other problems, and yeah, sometimes the tics get so bad and uncontrollable that it physically and mentally hurts me at times (especially when I hold it in).... but I would not get one. I've heard of this before, they did a few studies on this with regards to people with tourette's, and they even did a study of people who had it. I was called for an interview with regards to suitability of having this done. I didn't do it then (I was way too young), and I wouldn't do it now.

Would you consider getting one if your day-to-day life was severly impared by tourette's? I don't even know if tourette's can get that bad, but I'm curiours none the less.

[GravitasLost]

Nikkita: Wow, you've really been through a lot. You have a lot of courage to tell us all this, its really admirable. It's good you can see the bright-side of this as well, in so many cases in life, a disadvantage can work as an advantage. In many cases adversity can make you into a much kinder and accepting person as well. The junk I've been through personally has in the end made me a much kinder person.

In the TV show I saw (I think it was Dateline or Frontline) they talked about this technique being used to treat Tourette's, some of the patients symptoms lessened if I remember right.

You bring up a lot of what I was inquiring about in the question, what is the
concept of self. e.g. What it means to have a self, or be yourself. When one alters their mind's function like this are they changing themself, or are they letting their true-self through? Physical self to me seems fairly mutable and
ok to change, but mental and emotional self, it seems like one is turning themself into another person when they alter it to some degree. I wish I could express this better.


Icy: Is the book you are talking about "The Giving Tree"? That book is pretty amazing in how simple it is, yet in how many ways it can be interpreted.


McCorvic: I suppose the question I'd like to explore is.. what are the boundaries between doing things to make yourself happy, and altering the core of the 'self'. I"m just curious as to where people's boundaries are on this issue and why.

[GravitasLost]

I think I see where your coming from to some degree. I've had times in my life where I've been wiped out by depression but I don't want to have to alter myself to get rid of it. In some ways it's made me a lot more sympathetic towards people going through difficult ordeals in general, because it's really painful to go through. But also, the ups and downs in someways have made me more creative as well.

Still though, there is a lot of negative stigma about depression in general, and often people look down on me for having it and see it as a sign of weakness, and have made my life pretty awful, even though there really isn't much I can do to help it. The thing is, even though its painful, something inside me makes me very reluctant to change myself in a way where I might stop being myself. In my case its not pride as much as
the fear of altering my mind in a way that I might lose some of my abilities and not
be able to regain them.

Actually that was my main reason for never doing any sort of drugs throughout my life. Pretty much most of my friends were heavy into drugs but something inside me
kept me away from them. And I feel that same way about altering my mind in any sort of way.

Anyways, thanks for your insight, I learned something.

[shadowsvoice]

I have tourette's pretty bad. Not as bad as some (and for an example of what I am talking about when I say 'bad', go to youtube and look up the interview they did with Pete Bennett, the winner of Big Brother UK).. but it is still classified as mild - severe.

I used to take medication, but I stopped. I don't take medication anymore, and I would never get something that would stop what I have. It's part of who I am. Unfortunately, tourette's comes with a whole shitload of other problems, and yeah, sometimes the tics get so bad and uncontrollable that it physically and mentally hurts me at times (especially when I hold it in).... but I would not get one. I've heard of this before, they did a few studies on this with regards to people with tourette's, and they even did a study of people who had it. I was called for an interview with regards to suitability of having this done. I didn't do it then (I was way too young), and I wouldn't do it now.

My parents told me about this because I too have Tourettes. I have been taking medication for it ever since I was 6 and it's been nothing. The only time my tics flare up is when the holidays come or I am anxious. I did think about doing the pace-maker deal, but I decided agaisnt it. I was born with tourettes, thankfully a really mild case, and my meds take care of it. Like I said before, the only time it should be used is for extreme cases of tourettes. The kind that are debilitating to the person who suffers from them.

[Icypopcorn]

Icy: Is the book you are talking about "The Giving Tree"? That book is pretty amazing in how simple it is, yet in how many ways it can be interpreted.

No, it's not, I'm talking about The Giver by Lois Lowry. It's an incredible book about a utopia, but it's not really a utopia because there is no happiness, sadness, or anything. And it's really really good. =D

But I love the Giving Tree! That really is a pretty deep book <3

Nikkita- Thank you for saying my thoughts exactly. 8D
You change as a person through pain and hardships, for the better.

It's even scientifically proven that the more pain you endure the stronger you get, so why shelter that?