One of the biggest scientific breakthroughs occurred at the end of January, and it was done by one of Elon Musk’s companies. On January 28th, Musk tweeted “the first human received a brain chip implant from Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well.” If you have never heard of Neuralink, this is what it is: a company started by Elon Musk that is working on brain chip interfaces (BCIs). This is where doctors put a computer chip in the brain of an individual in the hopes that the computer chip can record and decode brain activity. Every thought and every action are connected to brain waves and neurons firing. The idea is that if there is a way to understand which neurons and brain waves cause different actions, a computer chip in the brain would be able to help someone who has damaged neural networks by either allowing them to control technology through thought, or, even one day, helping the brain heal itself. The aim of the current Neuralink chip is to help a person with severe paralysis to control a computer, robotic arm, wheelchair, or other device through thought alone.
You may read this and say that it sounds like science fiction, but science fiction has become reality, and there are many companies besides Neuralink working on this. There have already been several medical studies where people who received a brain chip interface were able to move a robotic arm just through their thoughts as though it were their real arm. The thing that makes Neuralink unique is that it has a wireless interface. Other BCIs required a large electrode sticking out of someone’s head with wires connecting it to a computer. The Neuralink chip is implanted within the brain. This implant includes “1024 electrodes distributed across 64 threads,” according to Neuralink. The implant is the key hardware component of the trial; the other focus points are the surgical robot and the Neuralink user app that connects wirelessly to a computer or other device.
“The N1 Implant is powered by a small battery charged wirelessly from the outside via a compact, inductive charger that enables easy use from anywhere,” the company says on its website.
Speaking about this initial trial, Musk tweeted that it “enables control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking.” He continued, “Initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs.” “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal.”
Ultimately, Musk has stated that in the future, as Neuralink progresses, it could actually lead to being able to reverse blindness, restore functionality after paralysis, cause limbs to grow back, and even enable users to have an augmented experience of reality. Musk has spoken about the idea of augmentation, calling it a “neural lace.” It would be the mixing of man and machine by creating a digital layer in the human brain and merging artificial intelligence with the brain.
The current trial is nowhere near doing any of this, but that is the ultimate desire of the company to reach this level of advancement with their implants. In 2017, the company released a video stating, “Imagine the joy of connecting with your loved ones, browsing the web, or even playing games using only your thoughts.”
For Christians, there are two ways of looking at all of this. The first is that it is great that there are technological advancements that can enable those who are suffering from loss of function or even those with total paralysis to have a better experience of life. It is amazing to see how science is beginning to be able to accomplish what was once considered fantasy and fiction. The other way of looking at this is not as positive. The merging of man and machine raises serious ethical questions, and it could be argued that these types of developments attack the “Imago Dei,” the image of God in man. What does it mean to be human? Does God want us to be able to surf the internet with our thoughts? Message our friends within our brains? These may be questions in the coming decades that have to be legitimately worked through.
If science does advance to the point that humanity has understood how to hack the human brain through brain chip interfaces, it creates a world in which whoever has control of that kind of technology will have God-like abilities. It would mean that through technology, blind eyes could be opened, withered limbs restored, and even the duration of one’s life could be extended. As a Christian, it does make me wonder how things like Neuralink will play a part in the End Times, the Mark of the Beast, and the lying “signs and wonders” of the Anti-Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 says, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” Ever since the Fall of Man, Satan has been seeking to convince humanity that it does not need God and, in fact, that we can all become God. Are these types of scientific advancements helping that lie become an even greater deception? I believe it is something we all should think about and pray about.
David Hoffman is the founder and director of Kingdom Enterprises an outreach and evangelism ministry in Tucson, Arizona. He has written articles for The Christian Post, CBN, Charisma, and several other publications. His ministry and passion is to equip Christians to share the Gospel and to reach the unchurched right here within the American culture. For more information, go to www.wakeupamericaforchrist.com