“Putting Elon Musk and His Brain Chip on A Psychiatrist’s Couch”, 2020-09-02 ():
[Carole Lieberman, M.D., MPH, is a board-certified Beverly Hills psychiatrist, award-winning author and media commentator on newsmakers and society.]
…Why is he really doing it?
Although Elon leads with the more physically oriented uses for his brain chip, such as dementia and stroke, his real passion for his pet project is its potential to fix psychological problems, notably his own: anxiety and depression. He was as anxious as a schoolboy doing his “Three Little Pigs Demo”, especially when his star pig, Gertrude, did not want to perform for the audience. This anxiety is a remnant of his traumatic childhood, which included a dysfunctional family, parents who divorced when he was 10, and relentless bullying from his schoolmates that landed him in the hospital. In addition, Elon also suffers from bipolar disorder, as evidenced by his volatility and mood swings. In a tweet, he once wrote, “The reality is great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress.” Asked if he could be bipolar, he answered, “Yeah”, then backpedaled and said, “Maybe not medically tho. Dunno. Bad feelings correlate to bad events, so maybe real problem is getting carried away in what I sign up for.” Paranoia is often a symptom of bipolar illness, and Elon’s fear of Artificial Intelligence has risen to this level. Indeed, he touts his chip as Man’s only way to avoid being taken over by AI in the next 5 years, and Neuralink’s mission statement is: “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”