Direct Communication and the Torment of Separateness

This paper is concerned primarily with brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and the potential for harm when we seek more intimate communication and relationships through this emerging technology. Specifically, the theological insight of Thomas Aquinas and the philosophical work of Stanley Cavell are taken up to help us better understand our desire for community, the limitations of that desire, and the psychological violence that follows our crashing up against these limitations. It is argued that a goal of BCI technology for unadulterated communication and relationship is not only likely to fail but even be a source for psychological torment. The closer we as humans come to the inner life of others, the more we are faced with our perpetual separateness—a separateness that leads to violence both internally and, in extreme cases, externally. Such violence not only informs the current development of BCI in relation to disability but broader hopes for enhancement.