In the future, will we have the freedom to think as we like without fear of economic or judicial reprisals? I hope so. Yet, recent technological advances give me room to pause. In this episode, I discuss scientific advances that can literally read your mind and create pictures based on your thoughts. Intrigued? If so, prepare to be amazed by the other discoveries I stumbled upon this past week. Science fiction is quickly becoming science fact. Can our laws keep up? What about our personal freedoms? This is the transcript from "The Jim Stroud Podcast" that posted on 06.09.19. Listen to this episode on www.JimStroud.com or on your favorite podcast platform. (i.e. Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts)

1. Do we have a right to freedom of thought?
This is a transcript from “The Jim Stroud Podcast” subscribe to it on iTunes, Google Podcasts and on
your favorite podcast platform. Please subscribe to my podcast, rate it, comment on it and share it with
your network. Thank you in advance! For more content, please visit and subscribe to JimStroud.com.
…
EPISODE #31 | Published 06.09.19
Hi, I’m Jim Stroud and this is my podcast.
My very first podcast in this series focused on brain to brain communication. If you have not heard it, you
may want to check it out; in it I reported on how scientists connected 2 people’s brain together, so they
could play tetris using only their minds because… why not? Well, I’ve noticed quite a few breakthroughs
in the brain territory that I found fascinating and frightening. Details after this…
Did you know this? Researchers from the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International
(ATR) and Kyoto University in Japan, have found a way to decode thoughts. They built a neural network
that not only reads your mind but re-creates a picture of what was in your mind. The scientists behind the
breakthrough are Guohua Shen (gwo-wah shen), Tomo-yasu Horikawa, Kei Majima (Kay Ma-jee-ma), and
Yuki-yasu Ka-mi-ta-ni. And apologies if I have mispronounced any names.

2. Here is a quote from the TechExplore blog:
Specifically, "The team has created a first-of-its-kind algorithm that can interpret and accurately
reproduce images seen or imagined by a person," wrote Alexandru Micu in ZME Science. Their
paper, "Deep image reconstruction from human brain activity," is on bioRxiv…. { Oh! Let me
interject here, Bioarchive is a library of scientific papers; just in case you didn’t know.}
The quote continues, here… Vanessa Ramirez, associate editor of Singularity Hub, was one of
several writers on tech watching sites who reported on the study. The writers noted that this would
mark a difference from other research involved in deconstructing images based on pixels and basic
shapes. "Trying to tame a computer to decode mental images isn't a new idea," said Micu.
"However, all previous systems have been limited in scope and ability. Some can only handle
narrow domains like facial shape, while others can only rebuild images from preprogrammed
images or categories." What is special here, Micu said, is that "their new algorithm can generate
new, recognizable images from scratch."
And if you think that is just… wow. Listen to this. Engineers from China Electronics Corporation and Tianjin
(Tee-unn-jin) University have created a chip known as the Brain Talker, with the device said to be capable
of reading human brainwave activity and efficiently translating it to enable users to control a computer.
If you are a fan of the anime – “Ghost in the Shell” or have seen the scifi movie “RoboCop,”then, you have
a pretty good idea of how this stuff works.
I learned about this from Sputnik International who had this to say about it.
QUOTE: Ming Dong, director of Tianjin University's Academy of Medical Engineering &
Translational Medicine, explained that the Brain Talker chip works by identifying minor nerve
information generated by the cerebral cortex, and decoding this information to enable
communication between a user's brain and a computer. "The signals transmitted and processed
by the brain are submerged in the background noise. This BC3 [Brain-Computer Codec Chip] has
the ability to discriminate minor neural electrical signals and decode their information efficiently
which can greatly enhance the speed and accuracy of brain-computer interfaces," Ming said in a
press release.
Now, I’ve saved the best and most interesting discovery for last. It comes from the Axios website with
the article title, “Advertisers want to mine your brain.”
Market researchers are hooking up test subjects to scientific-grade brain scans, searching for
triggers that spark emotional connections and affect behavior.
How it works: Brain tests like electroencephalography (EEG) allow researchers to see how
people's brains react, second by second, to experiences like watching a TV ad, scrolling through
an app, or popping a redesigned cap on a soda bottle. Electrodes monitor neuron activity in
various parts of the brain, cameras watch for eye movements and micro-expressions, and skin
sensors pick up on changes in heart rate and mental effort. They're looking for emotional
attachment, memory activation and active attention — how they vary throughout an experience
and whether they change after a consumer interacts with an ad or a product. "It's the
combination of emotion and memory that's really powerful as an indicator of whether this
experience right now is going to have an impact on future behavior, which ultimately is what's at

3. interest here," says Bradley Vines, director of neuroscience at Nielsen, a leading market research
firm.
By the way, Facebook built Its Own Neuroscience Center in New York to study and conduct experiments
along these lines and upon learning that, little alarm bells started ringing in my mind. How will we protect
our privacy in an age where machines can read our minds, where our brains are literally connected to
computers and our very emotions and memories are being manipulated to better sell a product?
People wear fitbits to monitor their physical activity and sleep patterns. People wear life alert bracelets
in case of emergencies. And I have noticed, as you probably have too, people are wearing wireless
Apple earbuds - everywhere. None of this is strange to us, because we are used to it. The technology
has seamlessly merged with our day to day lives. But, at an earlier time, carrying around a cellphone
24/7 would have been an alien concept. What happens if the next hot, social network, is not online or
on a smartphone but is literally in our heads?
Imagine seeing in your mind advertising so personalized that you cannot resist it because it plays on
the emotion of some of your most recent memories. Imagine that the information in your brain is sold
to third parties and as a result more irresistible advertising is presented to you in the physical world.
And as this goes on, you freely share the information in your mind because you appreciate all this
social network in your brain has to offer and all your friends are there. Until one day, you think the
wrong thought, a politically incorrect thought, a thought that could damage your reputation, incur
legal fees or bring you to prison. Sound far-fetched? I don’t think so. There already is a concerted effort
among big tech companies to silence speech they disagree with. Unless anti-trust actions take place,
our freedoms will be more limited. But, I digress.
I’m going to leave the last word to Nita Farahany, a leading scholar on the ethical, legal, and social
implications of emerging technologies. She gave a very compelling Ted Talk entitled, “When
technology can read minds, how will we protect our privacy” and it went like this… {[6:50 – 7:40] Quote
the survey findings and how people don’t believe how invasive the brain tech is.}
MUSIC
♫Music By♫ ●DJ Quads - Dreams - https://youtu.be/SrJD8nC_kLM ●Soundcloud -
https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads ●Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/djquads/ ●Twitter -
https://twitter.com/DjQuads ●YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/QuadsAKA
♫Music By♫ ●DJ Quads - A Bouquet Of Roses ●Song/Free Download -
https://youtu.be/ooTW6iDhXqY ●Follow DJ Quads - http://smarturl.it/dj-quads
♫Music By♫ ●DJ Quads - A Bouquet Of Roses ●Song/Free Download -
https://youtu.be/ooTW6iDhXqY ●Follow DJ Quads - http://smarturl.it/dj-quads
Song: Dj Quads - The Battle (Vlog No Copyright Music) Music promoted by Vlog No Copyright
Music. Video Link: https://youtu.be/aG2Pf5z6QFA

4. ADDITIONAL LINKS OF INTEREST
• Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics (CCLE)
• The Psychology of Freedom
• Brain Control With Light: It's Possible With Optogenetics
• Preparing for The New World of Data Privacy
…
THE JIM STROUD PODCAST is produced weekly by Jim Stroud. If you have an idea you would like
Jim to explore or would like to sponsor his podcast, click here to network with Jim now.
Find The Jim Stroud Podcast on these (and other) platforms:
• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes
• Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify
• Subscribe to this podcast on Stitcher
• Subscribe to this podcast on Google Play Music
• Subscribe to this podcast on Google Podcasts
• Subscribe to this podcast on Overcast
• Subscribe to this podcast on Pocketcasts
• Subscribe to this podcast on Breaker
• Subscribe to this podcast on CastBox
• Subscribe to this podcast on RadioPublic