Remote, Please.

Today our Anatomy teacher showed us a video of a "remote control cockroach:" that is to say a roach that was controlled. . . via remote control. Yes, a "living, breathing" organism.  Though I am not sure what the exact mechanics of it are, my teacher explained that they took the "motherboard" out of a simple children's toy, rigged it to something glued to its back and fed the signals through it's antennae into its brain, telling it to move forward, backward, left or right.  Now, simple enough to say; this was, clearly, a science experiment for whatever level collage class and can be justified as such.  However, that is approximately where the fine line is drawn, the silver lining is made apparent in the clouds, and these things humanity clutches to as "morals."

I speak of this fine line where the moral conflicts for such a device come in because there are several points in which such a device can be implemented, not only in animals, but in the human species, for a greater "good" or "evil" if it is so to be put.  In the "greater good" scenario, it could be used to help make humanity take an extra little step towards the utopia it so wishes to achieve since the dawn of time and that David spoke of when he wrote the lines of scripture which take that picturesque vignette of humanity in the eyes of  Yahweh and place it into letters which the mind can vividly recreate all man's foremost "mother and father," (should one wish to believe that as the truth) in the image of the "LORD God [planting] a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. . ." (Genesis 2:8).  What I am trying to reach, through all of this, is certainly not any conviction, but simply to introduce what man has wished to accomplish since he has heard the tale of the Garden; the Utopia he wishes to achieve for himself and all fellow man where no man shall fall ill, no man shall covet what his neighbor has, etc., etc.  The step I hint at leading toward this so-called utopia is that, if man can take hold of this technology, bring it about in a portable and convenient way so that one would not have to lug about a gigantic red rucksack everywhere with him, his paraplegic brother could stand and could walk about and run for the first time in years "since the accident," or even "for the first time in his life!"  Imagine it, reader; for the first time, those born with legs they could not make use of, or lost use at some point in their life, through an accomplishment of Man (O! the accomplishments he has made!) can utilize this technology to renew the signals that have been broken and renew them so that he may stand! Ponder this, reader; keep it in your mind while we explore other implications and before I dare delve into the moral implications that arise through our "modern" society."

Now, reader, let me take you into the opposite side of this silver lining; the more commonly apprehended version that the viewer takes (at least from my observations).  The question was asked, "Now, with this sort of technology, what could it be applied towards?"  Immediately, the first audible response from someone in the class was essentially "zombie apocalypse." Now. . . clearly, that is where our social media has taken us since Micheal Jackson's "Thriller" to the modern day sci-fi comic book series and AMC original series "The Walking Dead" but. . . I don't think that is quite where such a "mind controlling" device would lead.  If anything, anyone with the sort of power to control the minds, motions, or lives of a single person, or a million under a country, would certainly be devastating in the wrong hands to say the least, but what one must take into consideration, though the answer may be simple to some, is: why, exactly, would anyone wish to take up millions of lives as mindless slaves, or as use for entertainment? Or even the life of one in order to commit a misdeed?  Certainly, it is an entertaining thought, millions to have to bow down to one and do the bidding, yada yada, and surely there are some out there who would do evil merely "for the sake of evil" and nothing more, but what I fail to understand is what one could possibly get out of such an ability?

Of all things, since the beginning of man's ability to focus a train of thought, he has sought omnipotence, it is no mystery.  To this day, the desire to be god-like has driven every succession and every milestone across humanity.  Man wished to fly like the birds that a god or gods that were granted wings, and so he made himself fly.  Man wished to see the bottom of the deepest abyss to see where "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" (H. P. Lovecraft The Call of Cthulhu), or as it translate for those of us who don't speak occult, "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthuluh waits sleeping."  And man dove to the farthest depths.  Man wished to travel past the heavens of earth and meet his god(s) and he sent himself to the moon.  In short, with the determination that the gods and myths inspire, Man reaches his pinnacle; then he looks even higher.  So. What, then, does this say, exactly, about this implement of "mind control," as we wish to put it?  It is a part of the next milestone, to say the least, but one that will, like every other, come at a cost.  Morality that modern beliefs have instilled provide the boundary line for man; when going far to achieve what he wishes to accomplish is going to far, and (approximately) when to draw that fine line.  Some of the moral arguments that arise remind me of the 2009 film "Surrogates" in which the world has become a sort of Utopia.  People live their lives comfortably from their home while their Surrogate, a robot which looks and operates exactly like a human can, without fear of pain, crimes, and consequences do not exist.  This film, I am sure, is a derivative of the Massively Multiplayer Online computer game Second Life.  In short, Second Life is a videogame with the same essential concept, allowing the players to enter a life where they can forget their current one and live anew however they please, meet new people, etc., etc.  (I think I will let Wikipedia do the explaining on that one.)  Regardless, the film "Surrogates" easily conceives the idea of the former mentioned "utopia" achieved with what is essentially the same mind-control idea and constructs a plot where humanity takes up the advantage of such a milestone and it is taken advantage of in the same such way one could consider when making the "cons" list of applying a device in humanity, regardless of being for the better.  Needless to say, the cons of such a list may outweigh the pros in understanding the application in a dangerous way, and for those of us with automatonophobia it is very easy to devise the end of all humanity through such a simple device that would allow the broken brethren to stand again and live with legs instead of wheels.

In conclusion, the morality of the current society would not allow for the application of such a device through much more than a cockroach  before current views and takes on where the moral line is drawn.  In short, the needs do not quite outweigh the efforts in development and will not be considered what the world is ready for until the world is ready to take the next step, whisper a new word, for the world is afraid of what is new and in order to overcome the fears, one must simply have the strength to pick up what lies before him and lead his brethren into The New Era. "The most ancient human being on the most ancient field would still be standing there, trying to discern a way to plant food and make a living. If one had not overstepped tradition and made an innovation then, the human race would still be standing there. We would not exist. Without innovation and efforts to survive, humans die" (Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment; Rodion Romonovich Raskolnikov's theory).