Lesson: A Future With Superhumans - a convo with PhD Daniel H. Wilson

Conversation

Answer the following questions. You might be asked to write them down or answer them out-loud.

1. How is technology changing our lifestyles?
2. What invention do you think has had the greatest impact on society? Why?
3. In what ways has technology improved our lives? In what ways has it made it worse?
4. Would you be willing to have a surgery to implant a chip in your brain? Why? Why not?
5. In your opinion, are technologies that enhance our body good or bad? Give examples.
6. Can you name some inventions you are looking forward to? (human cloning, time traveling, eternal-life-pill, AIDS/cancer vaccine, teleportation, etc)
7. What do you think the world will be like a hundred years from now?
8. Talking about sports, do you think 'amped athletes' should be considered to be cheating? Why?
9. Would it be considered to be doping?
10. If you were a scientist, what invention would you work on?

Vocabulary

Look at the vocabulary below. Take time to explore the links for their definitions in English and their translations to Portuguese. When you are done, make a sentence with each word. Ask your teacher if you should write them down or say them out loud.

DT   vast

DT   tool

DT   seizure

DT   sort

DT   epilepsy

DT   fire

DT   instance

DT   pathway

DT   toward

DT   amplify

DT   whether

DT   disabled

DT   pattern

DT   unless

DT   mess

DT   perceive

DT   benefit

DT   dumb

DT   issue

DT   freak

DT   amped

DT   available

DT   meantime

Video

Watch the following video but DON'T read the transcript yet.

After watching the video do this listening exercise.

Reading practice

Read the following transcript then do the associated reading comprehension exercise.

Transcript:

Narrator: I sat down again with Daniel H. Wilson, the best selling author of Robot Apocalypse. And he has a new book out called “Amped” and, instead of being about homicidal robots, Daniel describes a near future where we create new technology that makes us superhuman.

Daniel: Human beings make technology. It's what we do. A cheetah runs fast. Human beings make tools. And for the vast majority of human history, our tools have been things that we hold in our hands. But, I think that we're gonna have a point in the near future at which our tools are gonna come inside of our bodies.

Narrator: Ok, so we do this already for all sorts of things and we're still basically human. But what happens when we put technology in our brains, like we do for epilepsy? For instance, with epilepsy the neural implant is listening for the sound of a seizure. That's when your neurons just start firing like crazy. So, it's pretty easy to detect, relative to, for instance, figuring out when someone is thinking about oranges. When it senses that the seizure is happening, it can stimulate the brain pathways to prevent the seizure.

Narrator: So Daniel thinks we're gonna take these to next level, with what he calls the neural auto focus.

Daniel: It sits in the brain and it looks for the state of inattention: Someone who is being distracted and then, in response, it stimulates the neurons to push them toward a beta one wave state, which is focused attention. When you have one of these things in your brain, you're an amplified human. Which means you have a special ability to focus. Which makes you learn things faster. Or, you could use it to focus on physical activities. There is a certain pattern of movement that happens again and again and again and again while you're trying to learn how to do some fine motor activity like that. It's gonna pick up on that very quickly and then it's going to specifically stimulate the neurons that are associated with that activity so that you - your actual brain is changing faster.

Narrator: So, I guess one day I'm gonna have to decide whether or not I'm going to get one, right?

Daniel: First, it would be people who have serious problems, but once we notice that the people who used to be disabled are now superabled, regular people are gonna get interested pretty quickly in order to do their jobs faster, to be more competitive, to be better at sports.

Narrator: Is this something you would elect to do?

Daniel: How insane is it, that I've never even thought of that?

Narator: It's pretty crazy.

Daniel: Oh man... you know what People aren't gonna do this unless they see some huge potential benefit. Because, let's face it: You're kind of messing with your brain, right? And that's scary. And nobody is gonna, nobody is down for surgery for no reason, right? You know, I would not do it unless I saw some huge perceived benefit. Or, what if I'm the last one left who hasn't done it and I'm just dumb compared to everyone else? But, let's not focus on individuals, what if everybody in China gets issued one of these things? What if a certain religion decides that this is hmm, you know, heretical or something? What if it's not up to you to make the decision? What if you're a kid and it's up to your parents to determine whether you need this as a treatment for some sort of problem, real or perceived? Do professional sports teams let amps play, or is that cheating? You know there's a lot to think about.

Narator: Well, I guess I should remind you, if you're freaking out right now, that this hasn't happened, yet. But in the mean time, you can read all about it in this new sci-fi novel called Amped, which is available now. Thanks for chatting.

Daniel: Thank you.

Writing practice

Write a couple of paragraphs describing an imaginary future where amped humans exist. Make sure to use words you learned from the text and try to make it as long as you can.

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