01/23/2023
Farahany (The Impact of Behavioral Sciences on Criminal Law), a law and philosophy professor at Duke University, delivers a levelheaded examination of neurotechnology, a “catchall term for gadgets that connect human brains to computers” or process the data transmitted between the two. Farahany contends that these devices, which range from Fitbits to neural chips, offer reason for hope and caution. She notes that technological innovations show promise for extending the human lifespan, restoring sight to blind people, and even communicating telepathically (one experiment successfully used a “brain–computer interface” to route visual information from two participants to a third in a different room). However, such technology presents ethical risks, she cautions, pointing out a school in China that required some students to wear EEG headsets to monitor their engagement and warning that corporate studies on suggestibility during sleep indicate that sleep tracking devices constitute an invasive new frontier for advertising. She advocates for establishing a right to “cognitive liberty—the right to self-determination over our brains and mental experiences.” The author’s evenhanded approach is a refreshing reprieve from the dystopian pessimism that often accompanies discussions of these technologies, and the eye-popping examples show that the future may be closer than many assume. Readers will be enthralled. (Mar.)
Ms. Farahany’s call for ‘prudent vigilance and democratic deliberation’ is much needed. In a world where even our dreams can be mined for data, we need more guides like her to think through the challenges ahead.”
—Wall Street Journal
"The Battle for Your Brain is a superb introduction to how rapidly advancing neurotech can either enhance or undermine free minds."
—Reason Magazine
"The book is valuable reading, not only for those interested in neuroscience but also for anyone genuinely concerned about the challenges humanity will face in the near future."
—Science
"[The Battle For Your Brain] delves into the many areas where this kind of new science comes up against civil liberties and other rights that we currently enjoy as human beings...The brain is the new battleground for humanity. And regardless of what governments do or don't do, to regulate technologies or protect citizens, it will be the responsibility of each and every one of us to now think about how we are going to protect our own brain."
—Forbes
“The author’s even-handed approach is a refreshing reprieve from the dystopian pessimism that often accompanies discussions of these technologies, and the eye-popping examples show that the future may be closer than many assume. Readers will be enthralled.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An unsettling warning … [an] insightful report.”
—Kirkus
“Nita Farahany writes with clarity and verve about the promise and perils of the neurotech revolution—offering a fascinating and provocative tour of technologies that have the power to transform our lives for the better and even what it means to be human. More importantly, she encourages a timely global conversation about how to ensure the ethical progress of neurotech to benefit all of humanity.”
—Jennifer Doudna, University of California, Berkeley biochemist, Innovative Genomics Institute founder, Nobel Laureate for co-inventing CRISPR technology
“Essential reading for anyone interested in neurotechnology and its coming impact on our society. Engineering neural implants to decode the brain seems hard to fathom, but this is easy compared to the ethical challenges that lie ahead. Farahany masterfully navigates the issues that confront us.”
—Edward Chang, M.D., Department of Neurological Surgery chairman, University of California, San Francisco
“Farahany poses the critical questions that can guide us as we navigate the hope and hype around neurotechnology, revealing both the promise for patients and the challenge for society. The Battle for Your Brain is a must-read.”
—Thomas Insel, M.D., author of Healing, former National Institute of Mental Health director, and codirector of President Obama’s BRAIN Initiative
"Your brain will not be private much longer. With elegance and intellectual grit, Farahany sifts through the psychological, commercial and ethical aspects of brain tech and points to solutions that will transform this technology from a threat into a life-saving tool."
—Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern and bestselling author of Adrift
“This highly original and timely book explains why we cannot surrender our ‘last bastion of freedom,’ even as we fight with politics and persuasion for access to the fruits of brain science. Farahany alerts us to a struggle for control over access to sensitive personal information that demands everyone’s attention.”
—Anita Allen, Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and professor of philosophy, University of Pennsylvania Law School
“Farahany sounds a timely warning concerning current uses of neurotechnology by corporations and governments for monitoring, recognizing that these uses will grow more powerful and insidious. However, she is no enemy of technology. She presents a balanced view of risks and benefits of its uses by individuals, and makes her arguments in the context of a sophisticated understanding of individual liberty and its potential limits in a free society.”
—Steven Hyman, M.D., Stanley Center of Psychiatric Research director, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
“Nita Farahany persuasively demonstrates that rapidly approaching advances in neurotechnology will change politics, marketing, mental-health care, and dozens of other areas of daily life. The legal and ethical challenges she outlines are daunting, but The Battle for Your Brain arms us with the knowledge needed to fight for a future that includes individual privacy and free will.”
—Jules Polonetsky, CEO, Future of Privacy Forum
“As a well-established thought-leader in ethics and artificial intelligence, Professor Farahany is neither alarmist nor resigned over current trends but offers a measured manifesto of how we can channel technological progress for the benefit of humanity. However, the message is clear: if we do not institute the necessary safeguards now, humanity as we know it is imperiled.”
—Ahmed Shaheed, University of Essex professor, author of the United Nations’ first-ever report on freedom of thought
