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Zack Lynch is author of The Neuro Revolution: How Brain Science Is Changing Our World (St. Martin's Press, July 2009).
He is the founder and executive director of the Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO) and co-founder of NeuroInsights. He serves on the advisory boards of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, the Center for Neuroeconomic Studies, Science Progress, and SocialText, a social software company. Please send newsworthy items or feedback - to Zack Lynch.
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Brain Waves
February 13, 2004
The Final Cut -- Robin Williams and Mira SorvinoEmail This EntryPrint This Entry
Posted by Zack

The arts have always been at the cutting edge of cultural consciousness. The recent rise of neurotechnology related themes in movies highlights the increasing public interest and fascination with neuroculture issues.

In addition to the recent thriller Paycheck starring Ben Affleck and the soon to be released romantic comedy Eternal Sunshine in the Spotless Mind starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, a third movie is due out in July that explores the personal and societal implications of memory erasing technologies.

The Final Cut, starring Robin Williams and Mira Sorvino, has William's playing the role of a professional "cutter", someone who edits people’s life-videos after their death for a memorial-service presentation. As Bonn film critic, Lee Marshall describes, William's job is to "respect the living", not the dead.

The ethical implications of emerging neurotechnology will be profound. It is for this reason that I urge all of you who have relationships with any individuals involved in these movies to contact me directly. I have excellent relationships with the leading neuroethicists who are working today to ensure neurotechnology is used for the betterment of humanity tomorrow.

DONATIONS should be directed to the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics (CCLE's achievements to date) and the Center for Bioethics at Stanford University where Judy Illes currently resides.

Note on the importance of funding neuroethics this year: In an election year, most wealthy individual donors decrease their donations towards non-political groups. Moreover, neuroethics is a cutting edge discipline that few profoundly understand.

Please get us in contact with the actors and producers of these films. They are among the few who have thought deeply about the philosophical and societal implications of emerging neurotechnology, while also having the money to donate to the groups who have dedicated their lives to neuropolicy issues.

I challenge the thousand of you who read Brain Waves each day to use your social networks for this purpose. Thank you.


Category: Neuroculture


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