If We Could Really Capture a Moment

Well, tomorrow I have to hop on a train again and ride back north to Toronto.

The purpose of this trip is “knowledge transfer”. I am to transfer a portion of my knowledge to those taking over our contract in November.

I am to perform this knowledge transfer without the use of tin head covers strung together with curly wire and electric flashes bolting the knowledge from my brain to theirs.

Instead – I am simply to tell them. And they are to remember what I said. Maybe they will take some notes, write some stuff down - depending on the quality of knowledge I provide.

Kind of simple, don’t you think?

But it does bring to mind the device I hope to invent in my mad scientist laboratory one day.

If you’re a sports fan, you will appreciate this.

Imagine if you could put a cap on somebody that would capture all aspects of their brain – like Tivo-ing a live sports event.

Everything that person experienced would be captured in this recording.

Then you can take that recording and give it to another person. They put on their cap, hit the “play” button, and play back everything the first person experienced.

Imagine if you had this recording cap on Hank Aaron when he broke the Babe’s home run record. We have all seen the tape of when he did it. But imagine if you could actually see it through his eyes, feel the adrenalin pump through his veins and his heart beating as his hands felt the bat make solid contact and the ball fly’s over the fence, and the explosion of emotion that erupted in that moment of realization.

Imagine.

Imagine Tiger woods watching that magic chip shot that rolled down the slope and on the last rotation hang before falling in the cup in the 2005 Masters.

I know that I would pay most anything to play a round of golf like Tiger, even if it wasn’t me playing. Just to know what it feels like would be incredible.

Or imagine recording your own emotion as saw your newborn child for the first time. You could play it back like a home movie.

It would truly be remembering. Although some may argue that the memory is sweeter than when it happened.

Imagine how diplomats could use such a device to establish a common ground. “Oh, now I understand how you really feel about that”. Of course the political ambitions and the lies they inspire would also be captured.

And think of the way that the education institutions would be changed. A lecture from inside of Steven Hawking s mind. The greatest experts knowledge would simply be copied into your brain.

But of course, like all new technologies, there are darker ways this would be used:

Governments would use the device to find out their enemies secrets.

Military Intelligence would use the device to uncover enemy plans.

Of course, pornographers would use the device too. I am not so naive to not realize this would be the devices first immediate use. I believe this is how VHS actually beat out Beta.

But the sickest would be from those who would create “snuff” experiences. Killing themselves or someone else while wearing the device and capturing the experience.

But imagine what man could learn from such a device. Imagine how our collective intelligence would skyrocket. Imagine how our social barriers would tumble. Imagine how our ability to agree would be increased.

Imagine. Or would it better for some inventions to not be invented?

If only we were smart enough – disciplined enough to know what truly is best.