The mystery of how the brain works is the most compelling question in science. We can discover new planets around distant stars and find water on Mars, but over 95% of the workings of the brain remain unexplored and unexplained.
Dixit Paul Gardner Allen, co-fondateur de Microsoft et instigateur d'un projet de mise en commun des connaissances sur le fonctionnement du cerveau. Cette nouvelle communauté du savoir aura selon lui un impact phénoménal sur l'amélioration de notre condition:
In the next decade we will make great strides in uncovering the complex network of gene interactions that govern every major brain disease and will create effective therapies through traditional drug discovery or new methods for modifying gene activity. Just as the use of cardiac pacemakers or artificial knees is common today, a new generation of implantable pacemakers for the brain will be widely used to treat everything from depression to addiction and Parkinson’s disease.
Ça finira par engendrer deux humanités. Cohabiteront-elles? Si oui, comment? Si non, laquelle prévaudra, et pour quels motifs? Hors du champs de la philosophie et de la science-fiction, peu d'auteurs traitent ce sujet.
