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by Robert W. Malone MD, MS
September 14,
2022
from
RWMaloneMd Website
The USG Administrative State
believes that Human Augmentation
is
'Imperative'...
Ever since I wrote
the
substack article on 'human augmentation' and the
UK Ministry of Defence and the German Military Complex,
discussing that these two organizations advocate for human
augmentation in a report entitled "Human
Augmentation - The Dawn of a New Paradigm", I have been
wondering if the US government, that is to say the US Department
of Defense (DoD) and the Administrative State which controls it,
has developed similar plans.
This week I did a
little research starting with the key words - "human augmentation"
and "DoD" - and there "it" is.
The "it" being the strategy playbook
and battlefield field plan for creating
human cyborgs...
For those who lust
for more stimulation and shaping after reading the following, this
substack also relates to our June 16 substack entitled "ARPA-H,
Intelligence Community within NIH".
To begin - there
are various "hints" from various governmental agencies that human
augmentation research is underway and has been ongoing for a number
of years.
For instance, this
below article:
DARPA's Arati Prabhakar tells Defense
One that cutting-edge biology research is the future of national
security
Defense One
April 1, 2014
Source
The ability to
link human brains to machines, create new life forms and build
Star Trek-style disease detectors will be the focus of a new
Defense Department office soon.
The new office,
named the Biological Technology Office, or BTO, will serve as a
clearinghouse for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or
DARPA, programs into brain research, synthetic biology and
epidemiology.
The office will
cover everything from brewing up tomorrow's bioweapon detectors
and connecting humans to computers to designing entirely new
types of super-strong living materials that could form the basis
of future devices.
Here are the
key areas in more detail...
This author does
let "the cat out of the bag", so to speak, by his use of the word "cyborg"
in the article's title.
That is the "military's new office for
cyborgs."
But the actual
content of the article does little to enlighten us as to what the
DoD actually has planned.
It is getting hard
to tell who is driving the bus here, the Pentagon or Paramount
pictures' script writers.
Do DARPA locker
rooms have
pinups of Jeri Ryan?
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Is
Bruce
Sterling actually a deep state operative and CIA consultant?
Moving on to more
recent news.
Another fascinating
title and article... this search was a little like following the
bread crumbs to grannies house:
DEVCOM CBC Public Affairs
November 18, 2019
Source
Peter Emanuel,
Ph.D., the Army's Senior Research Scientist for Bioengineering,
sees a future 30 years from now where a U.S. Soldier can direct
a swarm of drones in battle through a
direct brain-to-machine
connection using a neural implant.
The implant
also allows him to see exactly what each of those drones is
seeing, then digitally integrate this information in his brain
and send it as data to other machines, fellow Soldiers or his
command and control element.
This is a little
more helpful.
Note that the
person being interviewed for this article is Dr. Peter Emanuel. This
is important later on in this Substack.
Trust me, it is
a "Where's Waldo" kind of thing.
Also,
interesting that now the DoD is using the language "human
enhancement" - so much softer and gentler than "human cyborg,"
don't you think?
This other below article is
even a little more current.
Of note... the
COVIDcrisis most definitely took the spotlight off the whole "human
cyborg" research agenda.
Something tells me
that the DoD didn't mind that too much:
The Defense Post
May 05, 2021
Source
Human
augmentation should be embraced by the West to keep up with the
competition, US Space Force chief scientist Dr.
Joel Mozer
said during an event last week at the Airforce Research
Laboratory.
"In our
business of national defense, it's imperative that we
embrace this new age, lest we fall behind our strategic
competitors," Mozer said.
Mozer
added that unprecedented developments are forthcoming in areas
such as
artificial intelligence, which will allow the military to
craft tactics and strategies that "no human could."
Autonomous
programs will eventually provide real-time advice to commanders,
and multiple autonomous agents will be able to assist commanders
and decision-makers in reconnaissance and fire control.
The chief scientist further
explained that human augmentation will eventually develop into
technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality -
including "nerve stimulation" to enhance the simulation of
physical sensations.
"You could
put [an] individual into a state of flow, where learning is
optimized and retention is maximized," Mozer said.
"This
individual could be shaped into somebody with very
high-performing potential."
(I mean, who isn't
up for a little "nerve stimulation" among friends?)
The language used
is really helpful in tracking the origins of the ideas.
Bruce
Sterling's classic cyberpunk novel
Schismatrix
is all about the conflict between Shapers and Mechanists, Shapers
being the group that alters the body through genetic modification
and specialized mental training.
Mechanists are the
group that modifies bodies through computer software and external
alterations.
Yeah, we've
seen that movie too.
Then we have the
Big Kahuna, the report that begins to lay out the true
intent of the military in all of this.
This large,
year-long assessment - commissioned by the Office of the Under
Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and conducted by
the DoD Biotechnologies for Health and Human Performance Council was
published at the end of 2019.
It is entitled:
Cyborg Soldiers 2050 - Human/Machine Fusion
and Implications for the Future of the DoD
That abstract of that assessment reads:
Abstract
The Office of
the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
(Alexandria, VA) established the DOD Biotechnologies for Health
and Human Performance Council (BHPC) study group to continually
assess research and development in biotechnology.
The BHPC group,
-
assesses scientific advances for improved health and performance
with potential military application
-
identifies corresponding
risks and opportunities and ethical, legal, and social
implications
-
provides senior leadership with
recommendations for mitigating adversarial threats and
maximizing opportunities for future U.S. forces
At the
direction of the BHPC Executive Committee, the BHPC study group
conducted a year-long assessment entitled "Cyborg Soldier 2050
-
Human/Machine Fusion and the Impact for the Future of the DOD".
The primary objective of this
effort was to forecast and evaluate the military implications of
machines that are physically integrated with the human body to
augment and enhance human performance over the next 30 years.
This report,
-
summarizes this
assessment and findings
-
identifies four potential military-use
cases for new technologies in this area
-
assesses their
impact upon the DOD organizational structure, warfighter
doctrine and tactics, and interoperability with U.S. allies and
civil society.
This analysis was
made public when published, but then COVIDcrisis soon overwhelmed us
all and it quickly faded from public memory.
If you didn't read
this report back in the beginning of 2020 or if you have forgotten
about it, below is the executive summary of this 50 page report (or
click on 'source' linked title above to read the whole report):
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A DoD
Biotechnologies for Health and Human Performance Council (BHPC;
Alexandria, VA) study group surveyed a wide range of current and
emerging technologies relevant to assisting and augmenting human
performance in many domains.
The team used
this information to develop a series of vignettes as case
studies for discussion and analysis including feasibility;
military application; and ethical, legal, and social implication
(ELSI) considerations.
Ultimately, the
team selected four vignettes as being technically feasible by
2050 or earlier.
The following
vignettes are relevant to military needs and offer capabilities
beyond current military systems:
-
ocular
enhancements to imaging, sight, and situational awareness
-
restoration
and programmed muscular control through an optogenetic
bodysuit
-
sensor web
-
auditory
enhancement for communication and protection
-
direct
neural enhancement of the human brain for two-way data
transfer
Although each
of these technologies will offer the potential to incrementally
enhance performance beyond the normal human baseline, the
BHPC study group analysis suggested that the development of
direct neural enhancements of the human brain for two-way data
transfer would create a revolutionary advancement in future
military capabilities.
This technology is predicted to
facilitate read/write capability between humans and machines and
between humans through brain-to-brain interactions.
These interactions would allow
warfighters direct communication with unmanned and autonomous
systems, as well as with other humans, to optimize command and
control systems and operations.
The potential for direct data
exchange between human neural networks and microelectronic
systems could revolutionize tactical warfighter communications,
speed the transfer of knowledge throughout the chain of command,
and ultimately dispel the "fog" of war.
Direct neural enhancement of the
human brain through neuro-silica interfaces could improve target
acquisition and engagement and accelerate defensive and
offensive systems.
Although the
control of military hardware, enhanced situational awareness,
and faster data assimilation afforded by direct neural control
would fundamentally alter the battlefield by the year 2050, the
other three cyborg technologies are also likely to be adopted in
some form by warfighters and civil society.
The BHPC study
group predicted that human/machine enhancement technologies will
become widely available before the year 2050 and will steadily
mature, largely driven by civilian demand and a robust
bio-economy that is at its earliest stages of development in
today's global market.
The global
healthcare market will fuel human/machine enhancement
technologies primarily to augment the loss of functionality from
injury or disease, and defense applications will likely not
drive the market in its later stages.
The BHPC study
group anticipated that the gradual introduction of beneficial
restorative cyborg technologies will, to an extent, acclimatize
the population to their use.
The BHPC study
group projected that introduction of augmented human beings into
the general population, DOD active duty personnel, and near-peer
competitors will accelerate in the years following 2050 and will
lead to imbalances, inequalities, and inequities in established
legal, security, and ethical frameworks.
Each of these
technologies will afford some level of performance improvement
to end users, which will widen the performance gap between
enhanced and unenhanced individuals and teams.
The BHPC study
group analyzed case studies and posed a series of questions to
drive its assessment of the impact to DOD programs, policies,
and operations.
The following
are the resulting recommendations (not listed in order of
priority):
(RM - I have
only posted the top summaries for these recommendations, please
go to the report for more detail).
-
DOD personnel must conduct
global assessments of societal awareness and perceptions of
human/machine enhancement technologies.
-
U.S. leadership should use
existing and newly developed forums (e.g., NATO) to discuss
impacts to interoperability with allied partners as we
approach the year 2050. This will help develop policies and
practices that will maximize interoperability of forces.
-
DOD should invest in the
development of dynamic legal, security, and ethical
frameworks under its control that anticipate emerging
technologies.
-
Efforts should be undertaken
to reverse negative cultural narratives of enhancement
technologies.
-
DOD personnel should conduct
tabletop wargames and targeted threat assessments to
determine the doctrine and tactics of allied and adversarial
forces.
-
The U.S. Government should
support efforts to establish a whole-of-nation approach to
human/machine enhancement technologies versus a
whole-of-government approach.
-
The DOD should support
foundational research to validate human/machine fusion
technologies before fielding them and to track the long-term
safety and impact on individuals and groups.
This rabbit hole
then led me to the DARPA website - and wow...!
This research - to
create human cyborgs - it is actually happening...
A quick glance at
the Biological Technology Office and DARPA reveals that programatic
goals of building cyborg capabilities are being conducted at an
astounding rate.
The webpage search engine
allows a search of the
non-classified
programs already being developed.
So, one can go to
this site and envision many, if not most of these technologies
listed as being used for warfare.
The military is developing human
augmentation for military uses, not civilian.
This is important
to keep in mind...!
So, I spent a
little time searching and webmining the more "interesting" DARPA
projects.
Below are just a
few of the abstracts of research projects being funded by DARPA and
the DoD:
The Measuring
Biological Aptitude (MBA) program aims to address the need for a
more capable fighting force by helping individual warfighters
identify, measure, and track personalized biomarkers related to
training and peak performance for specialized roles.
If the program
succeeds, MBA technologies will give warfighters the ability to
understand the underlying biological processes that govern their
performance.
Specifically, these technologies
would elucidate the internal expression circuits (e.g., genetic,
epigenetic, metabolomic) that shape militarily relevant
cognitive, behavioral, and physical traits.
New devices for continuously
tracking these expression circuits could be integrated into the
body to provide instantaneous user feedback, helping the
warfighter to improve performance throughout training,
assessment, selection, and mission execution for a given
military specialty.
DARPA's
multi-year AI Next portfolio of programs and investments seeks
to develop contextual reasoning in artificial intelligence
systems to improve human/machine teaming.
The Agile Teams
(A-Teams) program aims to discover, test, and demonstrate generalizable mathematical abstractions for the design of agile
human-machine teams and to provide predictive insight into team
performance.
While
human-machine teams have been the subject of considerable past
work in
artificial intelligence and autonomy, designing agile
team architectures remains largely a trial-and-error enterprise.
The A-Teams program seeks to
create a systematic methodology to design teams that best use
the capabilities of both humans and machines and that can
achieve enhanced performance in uncertain, dynamic, and
co-evolving environments.
These new abstractions will be
validated using experimental testbeds aimed to support
reproducible evaluation of human-machine team architectures in a
diverse range of problem contexts.
***
The Hand Proprioception and Touch Interfaces (HAPTIX) program is pursuing
key technologies to enable precision control of and sensory
feedback from sensor-equipped upper-limb prosthetic devices.
If successful,
the resulting system would provide users near-natural control of
prosthetic hands and arms via bi-directional peripheral nerve
implants.
The Safe Genes
program supports force protection and military health and
readiness by protecting Service members from accidental or
intentional misuse of genome editing technologies.
Additional work
will leverage advances in gene editing technology to expedite
development of advanced prophylactic and therapeutic treatments
against gene editors.
Advances within
the program will ensure the United States remains at the
vanguard of the broadly accessible and rapidly progressing field
of genome editing.
Safe Genes performer teams work
across three primary technical focus areas to develop tools and
methodologies to control, counter, and even reverse the effects
of genome editing - including gene drives - in biological systems
across scales.
First, researchers are
developing the genetic circuitry and genome editing
machinery for robust, spatial, temporal, and reversible
control of genome editing activity in living systems.
Second, researchers are
developing small molecules and molecular strategies to
provide prophylactic and treatment solutions that prevent or
limit genome editing activity and protect the genome
integrity of organisms and populations.
Third, researchers are
developing "genetic remediation" strategies that eliminate
unwanted engineered genes from a broad range of complex
population and environmental contexts to restore systems to
functional and genetic baseline states.
Overall, the Safe Genes program is
creating a layered, modular, and adaptable solution set to:
-
protect warfighters and the homeland against intentional or
accidental misuse of genome editing technologies
-
prevent and/or
reverse unwanted genetic changes in a given biological system
-
facilitate the development of safe, precise, and effective
medical treatments that use gene editors
The
Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3)
program aims to develop high-performance, bi-directional
brain-machine interfaces for able-bodied service members.
Such interfaces
would be enabling technology for diverse national security
applications such as control of unmanned aerial vehicles and
active cyber defense systems or teaming with computer systems to
successfully multitask during complex military missions.
Whereas the
most effective, state-of-the-art neural interfaces require
surgery to implant electrodes into the brain, N3 technology
would not require surgery and would be man-portable, thus making
the technology accessible to a far wider population of potential
users.
Noninvasive
neurotechnologies such as the electroencephalogram and
transcranial direct current stimulation already exist, but do
not offer the precision, signal resolution, and portability
required for advanced applications by people working in
real-world settings.
The envisioned
N3 technology breaks through the limitations of existing
technology by delivering an integrated device that does not
require surgical implantation, but has the precision to read
from and write to 16 independent channels within a 16mm3 volume
of neural tissue within 50ms.
Each channel is
capable of specifically interacting with sub-millimeter regions
of the brain with a spatial and temporal specificity that rivals
existing invasive approaches.
Individual devices can be combined
to provide the ability to interface to multiple points in the
brain at once.
To enable
future non-invasive brain-machine interfaces, N3 researchers are
working to develop solutions that address challenges such as the
physics of scattering and weakening of signals as they pass
through skin, skull, and brain tissue, as well as designing
algorithms for decoding and encoding neural signals that are
represented by other modalities such as light, acoustic, or
electro-magnetic energy.
The Neural
Evidence Aggregation Tool (NEAT) program aims to overcome
current limitations by developing a
new cognitive science tool that identifies people at risk of
suicide by using preconscious brain signals rather than asking
questions and waiting for consciously filtered responses.
By aggregating
preconscious brain signals to stimuli, NEAT would determine what
a person believes to be true, false, or indeterminate about
specific types of knowledge that could be used to detect signs
of depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation earlier and more
reliably than ever before.
If successful,
NEAT will not only significantly augment behavioral health
screening, but it could also serve as a new way to assess
ultimate treatment efficacy, since patients will often tell
their clinicians what they think the clinician wants to hear
rather than how they are truly feeling.
Ultimately,
NEAT intends to augment current behavioral health screening
programs by providing clinicians with previously unavailable
information to enable earlier interventions and more reliable
measures of successful treatment.
The research activities that are being
conducted by DARPA and the DoD are considerable.
Even the small
sampling of abstracts published above only begins to document just
how large this endeavor is.
These technologies
are further along than we might think, and we deserve to know more
about them.
This is the future
that our government is planning for us, whether we like it or not,
and it is a future that is opaque.
From genetic
engineering to new synthetics development for neural implants, to
replacing and enhancing limbs for warfare - our military is "going
there."
But the truth
is, some places "we" shouldn't go.
Just because
they "can," doesn't mean they "should"...
If you have learned
anything since January 2020, I hope that you have learned to
question the wisdom and insight of the insider cliques within the US
Government and "Administrative State" who believe that it is
acceptable to march ahead with genetic and mechanical engineering of
human beings without meaningful oversight, let alone self awareness
and any sense of bioethical boundaries.
If we truly wish to
have a say in these new technologies, society (which is to say "we")
must be informed.
"We" have a right to be informed.
That means you and
me...!
As these
technologies develop,
transhumanism will become all the rage.
Think
about that...
These new technologies will be what future generations
will have to look forward to.
Human cyborgs are their futures.
They, that is human
cyborgs, will be our children and our grandchildren.
We are Borg. Resistance is futile.
You will be assimilated.
Your life as it has been is over.
From this time forward, you will
service us...
Thanks, Paramount.
We need more "normalizing their vision of the future" in our lives
please...
The military is
already working on propaganda to,
"reverse negative cultural narratives of enhancement technologies."
So, once again - we are being played before we even know
what the playing field looks like.
Like I said before,
we have all seen that movie too.
The full scope of
this program needs to be revealed to the American people. Although
the executive report barely mentions gene editing technologies, the
military is investing heavily in them and clearly with the intention
of using them for the war fighter.
The executive
report barely skims the surface of the research that is currently
being carried out by DARPA, and that is only one office within the
Department of Defense.
The public's right
to know about this research and what the final goals are is crucial.
Congress must demand answers and must demand open and transparent
responses.
As the report
rightly points out, what happens in the military will make its way
into the public sphere. We have a right to know what is being
planned for our future "evolution."
I don't use that
word lightly. But that is how the UK Ministry of Defence
has labeled human augmentation research.
Turns out that
Silicon Valley darling and
Klaus Schwab's evil mini me
Yuval Noah Harari (author of
Homo Deus, which literally means "Man God") is not so far out
there in his thinking as we had thought.
The bioethics of
human augmentation are complex.
The regulatory processes must be
developed before the technologies come into being, not the other way
around.
People must envision how these technologies will be used in
civilian life, in military life and as life-saving treatments.
People need to decide if and which of these technologies really are
for the good of society.
People need to become involved now.
That starts with
education.
Which begins with transparency by our government...
In
future Substacks, I hope that you and I will begin exploring
the
bioethics, the impact of these technologies, privacy issues, the
targets, future visions of society and just what this all means.
After all, what
could possibly go wrong...?
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