I'm both excited and terrified at the idea. On the one hand, you could just 'remember' stuff you'd never learned before. Also, the human brain, while great with relational information, is pretty terrible at storing structured data. You can't just dump a table of info into your brain and remember it all. This could help with that as well as calculation and problem mapping. Programming language verbs, syntax, and eccentricities could just be pulled straight from a database. Need to speak French at your next meeting, just download the language reference straight into your head.
On the other hand, you could totally end up with something like 'The Link' from Stargate, where facts are just changed and no-one knows any different because they're all hooked up to the same database.
As for direct hacking, I know it's scary to think of someone just hacking your brain and controlling you, but that's not very practical. Also, people can already sort-of do that. Ever see the one where the guy goes around paying for stuff with blank pieces of paper? Ever have someone just talk you into doing something you really don't want to do? We're already susceptible to suggestions and social manipulation. Heck, these days social engineering attacks are everywhere. They're even, often, the easiest point of entry into an organization or system.
I'm both excited and terrified at the idea. On the one hand, you could just 'remember' stuff you'd never learned before. Also, the human brain, while great with relational information, is pretty terrible at storing structured data. You can't just dump a table of info into your brain and remember it all. This could help with that as well as calculation and problem mapping. Programming language verbs, syntax, and eccentricities could just be pulled straight from a database. Need to speak French at your next meeting, just download the language reference straight into your head.
On the other hand, you could totally end up with something like 'The Link' from Stargate, where facts are just changed and no-one knows any different because they're all hooked up to the same database.
As for direct hacking, I know it's scary to think of someone just hacking your brain and controlling you, but that's not very practical. Also, people can already sort-of do that. Ever see the one where the guy goes around paying for stuff with blank pieces of paper? Ever have someone just talk you into doing something you really don't want to do? We're already susceptible to suggestions and social manipulation. Heck, these days social engineering attacks are everywhere. They're even, often, the easiest point of entry into an organization or system.
If this will be implemented in the future, I think too many people will use it without thinking its cons. Because this is really a great technology.