Push button for happiness

Perhaps the procedure isn't quite as the title says, but it is definitely the first thing that popped into my head when I read the article.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/02/more-evidence-that-deep-brain-stimulation-may-help-treat-mental-illness/?hpt=hp_bn10

The link has an x-ray of a patient's head showing the device, along with the rest of the article.

So, if they can cure depression by sticking some wires into the center of your brain, I have to wonder how long before people who aren't depressed are getting them done for the simple pleasure of it. It's a fixture in a number of sci-fi stories after all, the fear that someone else can use technology to regulate our moods, possibly even against our will.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Wire heads hoooooooooooo!

Fight smart, not fair.

Somehow, I doubt that this will become a regular thing. It's probably really expensive and really risky to stick something in your brain like that. And for this kind of thing, you'd probably have to have gone through extensive testing to prove that this is a viable treatment for your disorder.

Electric Instant Gratification?

edited 2nd Jan '12 5:58:26 PM by RenaTheArchmage

I am become Death, Destroyer of Miniputts.

I'd never let them hook me into something like this, it's one of the few arenas where I'm willing to cite the "It's unnatural and utterly abhorrent!" line.

This isn't the same thing as pushing a button for happiness. It's stimulating parts of your brain that normally don't work properly at all. Rather than being randomly happy, it simply allows them to experience normal happiness from the things that are normally supposed to make them happy.

I doubt it would even have the same effect on normal people. Might even make them depressed.

Since a lot of drugs already abused for various thing, It will certainly will be used in the future (if it become cheap and safe). Not worried too much, as long as people voluntarily want it. Marijuana, Coffee, Cigarette and Valium didn't destroy society. This will just another addition. Some will like it, Some will addicted to it, some will try it once and abandoned it. It will not become major problem in stable society.

edited 2nd Jan '12 7:05:59 PM by PhilippeO

Phillipe, this is talking about wires implanted in your brain. This is not a street level drug you can buy off the street. You have to get surgery for this. It's not going to become a widespread drug.

Well, if it works (emphasis on IF) then, yeah, why not? No one would object to having a pacemaker installed in someone who has something wrong with their heart, so I don't see why someone with something wrong with their brain should be denied the same.

Again, emphasis on if it works. I'm not sure if we know enough about the workings of the brain to really go for this yet.

edited 2nd Jan '12 8:11:31 PM by TheBatPencil

And let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that)

Well, it sounds like a more advanced, possibly more convenient form of electric shock therapy. I've heard that some patients get it to treat their depression and that it works pretty well. I'm pretty nervous about the idea of someone messing around physically with my brain, but if I had the kind of crippling depression that requires shock therapy, this is probably something I'd be interested in.

I think that this version is more of a pacemaker, in that it allows a malfunctioning system to function normally (as Clarste said).

I'm fairly certain that the "push button to stimulate pleasure center" version does exist, at least for laboratory animals. I seem to be remembering something where they gave them levers that would trigger the stimulator and the lab rats/mice/whatever ended up dying because they prioritized pressing the button over things like eating. I can't remember where I read this, though, so take it with a grain of salt, or look for it yourself.

edited 2nd Jan '12 8:30:17 PM by Shinziril

I give qualification "if it become cheap and safe".

Who knows, maybe in 20-30 years brain surgery become cheap. Cosmetic surgery is quite cheap and common in SK and Brazil.

edited 2nd Jan '12 8:28:49 PM by PhilippeO

Actually having read about this beyond a new article in class, I can tell you it's nothing like a drug. It just, in Layman's terms, turns on the happiness part of the brain, so it can, you know, function. After a while, with repeated jolts to that specific spot, the brain learns to keep it on by itself (or at least that's the current best guess, this is still going to go under lots of research), after which the brain can properly send signals there to make a person feel happy. It doesn't cause you to feel happy by itself.

edited 2nd Jan '12 10:41:56 PM by Ramus

The emotions of others can seem like such well guarded mysteries, people 8egin to 8elieve that's how their own emotions should 8e treated.

On the other hand, they have found out that stimulating a specific area of the spinal column causes mindblowing orgasms.

As of now, it'd be stupidly dangerous to poke around that just for that purpose, obviously, but the potential that this will eventually become feasible is more than a little creepy...

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Whatever. More creepy medical shit to deal with. The farther we go the more of this kind of thing will pop up.

"Shit, our candidate is a psychopath. Better replace him with Newt Gingrich."

Creepy, maybe, but it could also be really useful for dealing with certain serious, chronic mental disorders... and to be honest, it's probably too fiddly and risky for anything more widespread than that.

Think of it as like a pacemaker for your brain.

What's precedent ever done for us?

I wonder if this device would be as sensitive or even more so than pacemakers. Imagine a bad electrical storm or trying to make it through airport security. Would using a cell phone be even more dangerous?

I can just imagine the headlines if that thing shorts out.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur

Add the capability to have it controlled remotely and then we'll live a happy nightmare — political candidates remotely forcing you to feel happy about them. There's no tell how bad can things turn from there. No matter how much "will" you think you have, it can't overcome real, actual laws of physics and other stuff that rule the chemistry of the brain.

Enter the brain, enter the body.

That's what the title makes me think of.

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?

It doesn't work that way people, are you listening to me? It just allows the brain to feel happy in the first place like it should, it doesn't make you happy.

The emotions of others can seem like such well guarded mysteries, people 8egin to 8elieve that's how their own emotions should 8e treated.

Silent Reverence, you're jumping the gun there a bit. For one, this is not nearly that advanced. For second, what Ramus said. It's there to fiddle with the brain waves so that they do what they're supposed to. It's a mental health treatment. Not a mind control device.

And believe me, given how paranoid people in this country are, there will be pushing for laws against that kind of thing long before it's even plausible or widespread.

I know, that's why i jumped the gun; most of the other times I've done, it is already too late. Technology advances so much faster than law, what guarantees that lawmakers won't be "mysteriously" forced to be happy about leaving this issue unattended?

Besides, even as a medical treatment, I feel it kinda crosses a line not unlike Things Man Was Not Meant to Know. Marketing trickery and drugs that have to be consumed are not as bad, they're things that can be filtered and dosed to a point, but when you have direct access to someone's brain you can not only override their will, but also their capacity to have will. Not saying that those people don't (probably) need it, but I wonder why haven't I heard of stronger neurostimulation workings in this regard.

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?

[[Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul Invader Zim: Ah, yes... Nick. Neural experiment #231. And how is the happiness probe in your brain doing today, filthy human? Nick: It's great! I never want to leave this magical place! I'm so happy!]]

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.

Completely ignoring the fact that you still haven't gotten over science not figuring out how to actually forcibly make someone happy, do you realize how difficult, expensive, and unfeasible implanting this in the minds of people would be? It requires surgery, drilling into the skull and careful placement of wires, the brain is a touchy, touchy thing. More so, these wires have to be maintained and replaced and as with the pacemakers, they're not reliable.

Even in the case of brainwashing, there are laws against taking advantage of someone without them knowing and more so, family and other representatives can stand in for you in court if you are unable to.

The emotions of others can seem like such well guarded mysteries, people 8egin to 8elieve that's how their own emotions should 8e treated.

In all fairness, when has legality ever stopped anyone, especially the government if they really want something?

But seriously, I can't help but wonder if it won't cause more health problems then help. It seems a little like cutting off a leg because you have a problem with your toe.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur

It's an extreme measure kind of treatment, I'd imagine, Gabrael. A doctor wouldn't cut off the leg because of the toe, but they'd do this after the whole metaphorical leg is infected with gangrene. All other options such as medication and shock therapy where the patient has to come in and get things attached to their faces would have been tried already before resorting to the brain surgery option.

Also, again, not a mind control device. Messing with the brain in such a specific manner is something we're a long ways off from even being able to do.