The Social Context of "Do-It-Yourself" Brain Stimulation: Neurohackers, Biohackers, and Lifehackers
The Social Context of "Do-It-Yourself" Brain Stimulation: Neurohackers, Biohackers, and Lifehackers
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DOI：
10.3389/fnhum.2017.00224
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发表时间：
2017-05-10
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Wexler, Anna
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Wexler, Anna
“自己动手”（DIY）大脑刺激运动始于2011年底，当时外行人开始制造刺激设备，并将低水平的电流应用于他们的头部以实现自我改善。迄今为止，关于家庭使用脑刺激的学术研究主要集中在通过定量和定性研究来描述用户的实践，以及分析相关的伦理和监管问题。然而，在这篇观点文章中，我采取了相反的方法：我认为，必须在其他DIY和公民科学运动的背景下理解脑刺激的家庭使用，而不是单独看待脑刺激的家庭使用。从这个角度来看，家庭使用脑刺激只是“神经黑客”运动的一小部分，这是由个人试图优化他们的大脑以实现增强的性能。神经黑客本身是“生活黑客”（或“量化自我”）运动的一个分支，在这个运动中，个人自我跟踪日常生活的微小方面，以提高生产力或表现。此外，家庭或DIY使用脑刺激在许多方面与DIY生物学（或“生物黑客”）运动平行，该运动旨在使科学实验工具民主化。在这里，我描述了关于神经黑客，生活黑客和生物黑客的家庭使用脑刺激的地方，并建议家庭使用脑刺激的政策方法应该既有个人动机，也有运动本身更广泛的社会背景。
The "do-it-yourself" (DIY) brain stimulationmovement began in earnest in late 2011, when lay individuals began building stimulation devices and applying low levels of electricity to their heads for self-improvement purposes. To date, scholarship on the home use of brain stimulation has focused on characterizing the practices of users via quantitative and qualitative studies, and on analyzing related ethical and regulatory issues. In this perspective piece, however, I take the opposite approach: rather than viewing the home use of brain stimulation on its own, I argue that it must be understood within the context of other DIY and citizen science movements. Seen in this light, the home use of brain stimulation is only a small part of the "neurohacking" movement, which is comprised of individuals attempting to optimize their brains to achieve enhanced performance. Neurohacking itself is an offshoot of the "life hacking" (or "quantified self") movement, in which individuals self-track minute aspects of their daily lives in order to enhance productivity or performance. Additionally, the home or DIY use of brain stimulation is in many ways parallel to the DIY Biology (or "biohacking") movement, which seeks to democratize tools of scientific experimentation. Here, I describe the place of the home use of brain stimulation with regard to neurohackers, lifehackers, and biohackers, and suggest that a policy approach for the home use of brain stimulation should have an appreciation both of individual motivations as well as the broader social context of the movement itself.