Matrix Foretells Future of Learning
Apparently the Matrix was somewhat prophetic in showing us the future of learning. The idea that you can download knowledge is becoming more of a reality. According to Fox News:
Scientists from Boston University and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan, have used a functional magnetic resonance machine (fMRI) to decode the process of learning.
The procedure – known as Decoded Neurofeedback or “DecNef” – stimulates the visual cortex by sending signals that change the brain activity pattern.
For example, by placing a juggler into a fMRI machine and have them imagine juggling, scientists, can capture the brain patterns and then pass the information onto someone else. (See What If You Could Download New Skills? Scientists Say It’s Possible.)
Maybe in the future, rather than writing a manual, technical writers will get into an fMRI machine and imagine each of the tasks of an application. The brain patterns we produce will be our deliverable, the new manual.
As a side note, try reading the original article in a science journal. Then compare it with the Fox news article. Talk about dumbing down the content!
(As a related article, see Brain Waves and the Stimulation of Motivation/Creativity, a post I wrote several years ago.)
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Wow, now I want to write a good sci-fi story around this…
In the future, then, technical writers are dead. If our role is bridging between technicians and end-users, and some technology does that in our stead, I see a bright future flipping burgers in front of me.
What about writing manuals for the fMRI machines? Surely there are some knobs and such that will need a troubleshooting manual, especially when the brain wave results end in disasters (think evil villains being born through the machine, etc.).
So, the world’s last technical manual will be the operator’s guide to the first such machine.
It will probably look something like this: http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20050618035739/memoryalpha/en/images/1/1b/GreatTeacher.jpg
Loved the photo. Thanks for sharing it. It made me chuckle.