Transcendence and DARPAs Restoring Active MemoryTony Cartalucci The US Department of Defenses Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, has announced its Restoring Active Memory (RAM) project which intends to develop a prosthetic for the brain to record and store memories for those with degenerative neurological conditions such as Alzheimers disease or victims of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Science Daily in its article, DARPA taps Lawrence Livermore to develop worlds first neural device to restore memory, reported: Threats and Opportunities For starters, the digitization of our neurology opens the doors to all the threats and opportunities that befall or benefit existing digital devices, including those connected to the Internet. Collaboration, control, viruses, hacking, surveillance, exponential intellectual progress, personal empowerment, and even human-drones are all in the cards. And while a climatic and apocalyptic war with the machines lingers menacingly in the back of our collective minds, what if devices like that which DARPA is developing led to man merging with machines instead? There would be no war with machines, we would be the machines. In this context, we face two possible futures: one like that portrayed in science fiction films like Terminator or The Matrix where humans hide amid the ruins of their onceproud civilization fighting a desperate resistance against far superior machines that turned on them, or a future like that portrayed in the Japanese anime films and series, Ghost in the Shell. In the latter, the lines are blurred between man and machine and a tenuous balance of power is maintained throughout human civilization, between extremes of both organic and cybernetic natures. With advances like that announced by DARPA, the latter scenario is the most likely one. A merge between man and machine is the most likely scenario whomever controls cybernetic technology, however, will determine how utopian or dystopian our future will be. Currently, DARPA and other corporate-financier monopolies control this research and technology, while they monopolize other realms of scientific progress including molecular biology, genetic engineering, and information technology. This power in such few hands is surely a recipe for disaster at least for those without access or say in how the technology is used or in other words for the vast majority of us. A consumerist paradigm that has neurological implants tied to our information technology infrastructure would lead to abuses that would make the NSAs current overreaching authority look placid in comparison. It could also transform our militarys abilities into the most effective and most horrifying of both human and drone combat. Instead, this technology must be democratized, opened up, and disseminated across society. People to be fully free and in charge of their destiny must not focus on democracy and civil literacy, but rather on technological literacy, as it is technology that forms the foundation upon which modern society is built and controlled. If we want a say in this modern, technological society, we must understand how it works currently such an understanding lies in so few hands. We will not un-invent neurological implants that expand the landscapes in which our minds may occupy. We can either choose to boldly embrace and take control of such technology, or cower and complain as others leverage this technology against us to cement an ever expanding disparity between their domination of humanity, and our subservient futility under their dominion. Tony Cartaluccis articles have appeared on many alternative media websites, including his own at Land Destroyer Report, Alternative Thai News Network and LocalOrg. Read other contributed articles by Tony Cartalucci here. 