M O O D W A R E

Humans and some animals appear to experience emotions, moods, and attitudes. What would life be like if we could adjust our moods like we can adjust the sounds coming from our musical sound systems? Would there be a prefered setting that everyone would gravitate towards? A component of modern stereo systems is the equalizer. It allows us to adjust many of the different sounds in the music we play. Traditional hi fi systems have only two adjustments of tone; bass and treble. With the equalizer attached we can adjust the tone in many ways; ten or more controls replace the simple bass and treble on the older systems. If we noted all of the factors that result from moods, attitudes or emotions and assigned a button to each how would life be for us? We would never have to suffer from a bad mood or a sleeples night. Anything that bothered us could be adjusted to our likeing or the needs of the situation. Is a particular thought distracting you? Reduce the distraction producing nerve cells with a command. Wake up in the morning in a bad mood? Adjust your mood like it was on the best day of your life. Do we seek to be in a good mood? Do we devise all kinds of methods to keep our moods proper? If we could connect the parts of the brain that produce moods and then altered them how would we regulate this new form of mindware? Would it be similar to alchohal and drugs or much more refined and would people depend upon another drink to set things straight temporarily? Would such a technology be an advance forwards or a step backwards? If we could adjust our moods for any kind of situation that would require a particular mood would we be more adaptable to different type of situations? If we need to be quick and fire out answers quickly; adjust the knobs. If we need to be relaxed and slowed down to enjoy, for instance, art; adjust the knobs. Will this ability to control our moods become adictive? Or will it become just another part of our life, much like caffine products which are mixed with our drinks? What would become of the pharmacuetical companies when instead of taking a sleeping pill, to sleep, a person would simply think the thought sleep and sleep he or she would get. What about the illegal drug trade when the controlled substance can be replaced by pirate mindware? These types of industry will have to invest in designing software that will replace what they had been selling. When these devices become poular there will be a societal reaction similar in structure to societies current veiws on drug abuse. When we begin connecting our fibers to the "Reward Centers" of the brain it will be no easy task to learn how to live in a world where mood and pleasure are just a push of a button or a thought away. There is a hierarchy of rewards, each intertwined with our experience. From the most basic ones of hunger or thirst to the higher ones of family, love and lifetime acheivements, these impulses originate in the brain. Two or more groups of nerve cells fight for dominance within the region of thier connections. THe more active one of these regions are the less active the other. Activity in one shuts down the other. It is not all or nothing, it is a give and take; as one part increases it's activities the other decreases by that amount. When the one reaches a peak it begins to reduce it's activities and the other becomes more active. Think of hunger; how fast does hunger go away once we begin eating?By the time we get done eating the desire, (produced in the hypothalamus) seems to have dissappeared. These regions of the brain are very important and when we figure the way to run our wires down into them we should proceed with much caution. What about excitement; fear? We can go to a movie and become frightened when there really is nothing there to fear. When walking on a dark street a simple noise can jolt us and trigger some bizzare behaviors. When we connect to these parts of the brain (fear producing neurons and hormones) all of the symptoms of fear could be amplified. When we begin to manipulate our emotions and moods directly with electrically patterned stimulation we will begin to decipher the method by which the brain produces these phenomenon. We may find that all of the past debates about these "most human qualities" may have missed the point. That whatever we do or experience, there are nerve cells that are mechanically producing these experiences and effects. Once the Human Onboard Computer is installed beneath our skull bones we may adapt easily to having the answer to every question on the tip of the tounge. Will we adapt as easily to having the ability to experience any mood or emotion at will? What will happen to our veiw of our highest abilities when they can be purchased as a software to be downloaded directly into our brains?

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