America's cutting-edge defense research agency, DARPA, has seen the promise of using electrical stimulation of neural pathways to speed up learning, and it is now directing significant funds to external researchers with the expectation that they will discover safe ways of putting the technique into practice (see article).
According to DARPA, the primary application of quick-learning technology would be to ease the difficulty of learning foreign languages. The benefit to both agents and soldiers should be obvious, and we can hardly blame the military for pursuing it. Looking beyond the tactical perks, however, the endeavor for such technology is disturbing for spiritual reasons. If scientists can develop something that enables people to become multilingual with little effort, then mankind will have undone what God did at the Tower of Babel.
According to DARPA, the primary application of quick-learning technology would be to ease the difficulty of learning foreign languages. The benefit to both agents and soldiers should be obvious, and we can hardly blame the military for pursuing it. Looking beyond the tactical perks, however, the endeavor for such technology is disturbing for spiritual reasons. If scientists can develop something that enables people to become multilingual with little effort, then mankind will have undone what God did at the Tower of Babel.
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