Reality is about to get a techno-makeover, courtesy of a Yemeni molecular biologist and “science communicator” (a title I had no idea existed but should have predicted did).
Things are fixin’ to get mighty strange.
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The concept behind “Cognify” is that it implants “Matrix”-style false memories in the minds of prisoners in an attempt to reprogram their minds to act better and renounce their criminal ways.
Via Wired (emphasis added):
If you’re a sci-fi fanatic you have definitely seen a somewhat over-exaggerated conceptualization of “The future,” including flying cars everywhere, everyone swapping their daily clothing items for robotic suits, advancements in AI, and habitation on different planets. While some of those have come to life others are still on their way to becoming a reality from a concept. Among them is Cognify — a rehabilitation facility conceptualized to replace traditional prisons by embedding artificial memories permanently in addition to an individual’s own experiences by Yemeni molecular biologist and science communicator Hashem Al-Ghaili.
Starting off with the possibility of being realistically instilled on a large scale, Al-Ghaili says, “Absolutely! The science behind it already exists, but the ethical boundaries stand in the way of making it a reality.” Cognify was inspired by the “limitations of the current criminal justice system and the crucial role vivid memories play in shaping behavior.” Injustices are prominent in prisons around the world. “Prisons often fail at effective behavioral rehabilitation, as evidenced by high recidivism rates,” he says. According to the concept the intensity and type of artificial memories would be adjusted depending on the crime. In this case, intensity is quantified by the depth of these emotions with the duration of the memories tailored to provoke specific responses like empathy, remorse, or understanding.
For those who haven’t read it — the book being far better than the film adapted to it, full of wildly entertaining slang adopted from pseudo-Russian — I highly recommend it. What is described above is almost verbatim the plot of “A Clockwork Orange.”
Via Britannica (emphasis added):
The novel opens in a totalitarian society where violent youths abound. Alex, the protagonist, has a passion for classical music and is a member of a vicious teen gang. He and his droogs (friends) engage in drug-fueled orgies (milk spiked with narcotics is the drug of choice), and their random acts of brutality—particularly against defenseless people—are detailed with enjoyment in Burgess’s made-up slang, Nadsat. At one point the group breaks into a cottage, beating a young writer and gang raping his wife, who later dies. When an attempted robbery goes awry and Alex murders an elderly woman, he is sentenced to 14 years in prison. He gradually adjusts to life behind bars, but one night he and his cellmates beat a new prisoner, who dies. Alex is chosen to undergo an experimental program called the Ludovico’s Technique, a brutal form of aversion therapy that includes Alex watching films of Nazi atrocities. The treatment causes him to become physically sick if he even thinks about committing a crime. It also results in Alex disliking classical music. While government officials deem the procedure a success, the prison chaplain, who had befriended Alex, questions the ethics of removing one’s free will. According to the chaplain, good behaviour should be a choice.
