Oooor I can leave it here for anyone to comment on.
I am imagining a setting where the most important commodity is computational power. In that setting quantum computers are working well, but proved unsuitable for tasks requiring understanding. However, a neuroelectronic interface has been invented and it's possible to do complicated computing/reasoning/AI design by tapping into the power of the brain. In fact, the most common job for an average Joe is to donate brain time towards business computing.
I think it could be as if distributed computing meets utility providers. You install a small connection kit at home and then choose who you donate the brain time to, depending on who gives you the contract you like the most. Conversely, you can purchase brain time like you purchase processor time now, to run your commercial AIs or plot your starships most efficient course or solve the travelling salesman problem all day long.
The way I see it, different peoples' brains could have differing appropriateness for such processing and thus yield more or less cash per hour, much like today's wages. I could see that in this world, since it would be possible to use the neural interface for entertainment (sims, vids, whatever you can think of) a lot of people would choose to spend the majority of their time online.
In my mind I associate this "adjustment" with averageness, mediocrity, compliance and certain mental inertia, which would be tell-sings of the perfect employee. On the contrary, highly intelligent, nonconformist, maladjusted or disturbed individuals would probably not gain a lot from this sort of work, while having better options offline.
I am thinking of a societal rifts between the online majority, the offline misfits and an occasional genius who would be just such a waste when connected to the brain grid.
And I need a reality check. What am I not seeing that would completely spoil the process?
Axioms: neural interface is possible, processing external data in a brain is possible, suitability of a brain for that process goes hand in hand with how average and conformist the personality is.
In what way would donating brain time be any different than say data entry jobs from a societal point of view
Also if these new literal neural networks are so powerful as to displace distributed computing why then aren't they used to design an artificial neural network or a genetically engineered biological one to perform this task better?
market forces would pressure toward a stabilized workforce and whenever possible a uniform one
the differences in the physical brain due to genetics and different synapse connections formed during life experiences
the sysem you are describing sounds a lot more like Folding @ home folding.stanford.edu a nice way to use spare computing power with an incredibly disparate range of performance vs. the setup a business would go about creating or utilizing
Hm, I'm wondering about this - the combined brain system could be used to develop new, better networks, but I'm thinking that using workers might actually be cheaper than what would be required to duplicate it otherwise
I guess from a business process standpoint its not very realistic, a lot of genre fiction around this sort of idea struggles as well (books, films) so me having issues with suspension of disbelief for your scenario is not a death blow
so its cheaper if I have an ad-hoc network system, but my processing power is limited, and lets say im am always losing or gaining machines, this introduces some interesting problems in having reliable throughput, a business is much mor elikely to prioritize control and steady power over low cost so long as they can remain financially solvent.
All the while growing artificial brain option, which requires a lot of unobtainium and even more processing power.
I would like that model of working to dominate the society, so it can't be short - say, half a century at least
preferably a century
I would like the corporations to lobby education etc. so that the brain-plug conformity is the greatest in a couple generations so they can fuel their artificial constructs with processing power.
have you thought about he reverse scenario where a select few by genetic chance have the ability to ideate or run massive parallel computation due to a brain structure quirk?
@eimyr Its something I was taught and I find it extremely helpful in drafting creative choices to flip the choice and ask how it changes the story/world
