[extropy-chat] Wireheading

[Anders Sandberg]

John wrote:
>> Still -- as far as I can tell wireheading is very rarely used for
>> mental illness treatment. Why?
>
> It's possible for implants to wear down, cause irritation and require
> maintenance. That, combined with the implant and removal cost, means that
> drugs are probably seen as the more cost effective method.

Yes. Expensive, risky and not permanent enough. But deep brain
stimulation, as the method is called in medicine, is actually used in some
conditions. Here in Oxford there is a team working on intractable pain
using DBS, for example. And people are using various anti-Parkinson
treatments along the same lines. While none of these targets
(periaqueductal grey matter and the basal ganglia) actually produce
pleasure reactions, cerebellum stimulation for palsy appears to be
enjoyable:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9711743&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=3314373&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_docsum

>> And given the intense desire that humans have to get stoned, why is
>> there not at least a little experimentation with recreational
>> wireheading? (Yes, I know that a surgeon is needed, but on this world
>> of 6.5 billion people, there is usually _someone_ with the adventurous
>> spirit and the resources to try any given crazy experiment.)
>
> I know there's at least one doctor attempting to help women with
> self-satisfying partners reach orgasm by implanting electrodes right up
> against their spinal cord. So far, he hasn't had many volunteers and less
> than 100% success with those who did.

I guess this shows that we humans are not quite as pleasure seeking as we
think.

I think one could probably whip up an amateur TMS system and stimulate the
brain. But none of the pleasure systems are close to the surface, so it
would be better for just creating weird sensations, some cognitive
enhancement and accidentally priming epilepsy.

> I am aware of a number of people, however, drilling holes in their heads.
> According to them, the hole releases pressure in the cavity and allows
> their
> brain to function in an enhanced state. Unfortunately for one of the two
> guys recently arrested for supplying almost the entire Western Hemisphere
> with LSD, two of their character witnesses happened to also believe in
> this
> process.

Well, the trepanation movement has no convincing evidence that they get an
enhaning effect. I would bet on a massive placebo effect. Imagine that you
had done something as drastic as getting a hole in your cranium - wouldn't
that convince you that you must be feeling better now?

Why use surgery when there are so good drugs around? Actually, one could
combine them: inserting a cannula into the basal forebrain and releasing
microdoses of cocaine would probably be a great kick, and I think that one
could get around some of the systemic bad effects of cocaine this way. And
the placebo factor would be a real kicker.

-- 
Anders Sandberg,
Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics
Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University