I received this question and I would like to answer it
in two ways. First I will reason out an answer, then I will attempt
to summarize my answer in a single paragraph based on the research
and logic outlined.
Q:
Would it be totally impossible to inject much knowledge into
the brain using sound waves? Or maybe a laser to beam the information
into a piece of machinery in the brain?
A:The brain itself is not equipped to process sound waves,
that is what our ears are for. Sound waves, as I'm sure you are
aware, need something to move through just like waves in the ocean.
Sound moves through air most commonly, but can also move through
water, glass, wood, etc, but each material moves differently. A very
dense material, like a metal door, will block out more sound that a
less dense material like a wooden door. Air is the least dense state
of matter on Earth which is one reason sound moves through it more
efficiently than say water. Gas and liquid can both be described as
fluid in motion, by this I just mean they move more easily than
something solid. This video has a good explanation for how sounds move through different materials.
To get sound waves into the brain they would have pass
through your skin, muscles, skull and the fluid around your brain.
Whenever the waves pass through a different medium it would change
the properties of the waves, as explained in the video above.
So even though we can encode waves with date by
modifying the properties, the act of sending it through the head to
the brain would contaminate the carefully modified data. If we found
a way around this change to the sound wave, each attempt would have
to be calculated at that point in time with specific measurements
taken. Here's why: Everyone's head is going to vary. The thickness
of the skin, the density of the muscle and skull, the consistency of
the fluid around the brain and of the gray matter itself would all
have to be taken into account. On top of that, we are alive so all
of those variables are constantly changing for each person.
Dehydration could change the density of the muscle or the fluid in
the brain (This part is a little fuzzy for me, someone who knows more
on the anatomy of the brain may be able to give a clearer picture),
how much knowledge you have is going to change your brain, and even
your mood could affect the brain's chemistry. What chemicals are
present in your brain could change the movement of the wave.
As a clearer example, think of a clear, crisp autumn
day, sound carries cleanly through the air. Now imagine a muggy day
in the summer after an afternoon of rain, sounds don't carry as far.
The air is now filled with water vapor (the humidity is higher) which
will change how the sound waves carry through the air.
So my point is the “weather conditions” in your head
would directly effect the injection of knowledge using sound waves.
Which means while it might be possible, I doubt that it would be
feasible.
Now this is assuming that we can use these modified sound waves to stimulate the brain and some how get it to store or process information from these waves. This is a huge assumption to even sugest that it could be possible. But, I am no expert when it comes to the inter-workings of the brain, so with my limited knowledge I think the logical conclusion is it won't work.
As far as using a laser to beam knowledge into the
brain, there are several factors to consider. One, let's assume
we have the technology to interface the brain with a computer chip or
mini motherboard.
Light is a continuous spectrum, from the Radio (low
energy, wide waves of light) to gamma (high energy, tiny waves
of light) waves, as seen in the image below. Lasers typically
are created to emit light in the Ultra-Violet (UV) to the Infrared
(IR) wavelengths. This includes the visible spectrum.
 |
| Light Waves from High energy to Low energy |
Let's start with the visible spectrum since that is what
we are most familiar with. Visible light is going to bounce off
your skin. It would not penetrate deep enough to reach
machinery in your brain.
So, what about IR? Well, we experience IR
radiation (all light is radiation) in the form of heat. So if
you were to shine an IR laser at your head, you would warm up.
This could potentially interrupt your homeostasis (you're body's
"happy" balance), so I'm not sure this would be wise
either.
Two down, one to go.
UV? Let me ask you this, what do we generally associate with UV
light? The sun/sun burns. We know UV can damage your
skin, even cause cancer. I don't think shining a Laser emitting
UV light would be very healthy.
Alright, well with
those ruled out, what if we created a laser that emitted light in a
different spectra? Let's go through them:
Microwaves?
Yum cooked brains? Next Please! Well,
that's really only one wavelength in the Microwave spectrum.
So maybe, we will discuss this.
Radio
Radio waves
would probably be too large, they pass through us all the time and
don't effect us, so this seems the most likely by far, but let's
continue.
X-Rays
You really
want to try to limit your exposure to X-Rays. There is a
reason X-Ray technicians don't stand there without protection if
you are being X-Rayed so that won't work.
Gamma Rays
Long term exposure
is also very bad for you. Anything more energetic than
Visible light, and you want to limit your exposure as much as
possible.
So Radio would really be the safest option let's explore
it to see if it would really work. Radio waves include
wavelengths starting at 0.1 meters and up. There can be Radio
Waves the width of a baseball or the width of the Earth. This
means the receiver would have to be that large. That's why car
antennas are long is so they can receive the right signals. We
get radio waves from Jupiter that need 20 foot long antennas.
This means that while it might be possible, your brain may have to be
wired to be a receiver. But wait, what was that I saw?
 |
| This is an interesting image of the spectrum. |
| Pay special attention to the location of the Microwave Oven. |
Notice
where the Radio wave spectrum begins (about the size of a baseball)
and where the source is under that (The microwave). That's
where the spectrum overlap a bit. A microwave oven emits a
wavelength of about 0.12 meters. So there may be hazards at
this area of the spectrum (Microwaves to small Radio waves) causing
heating from the molecules in your brain, much the way a microwave
uses water molecules to heat your food. To learn more about how
a microwave works to heat your food I suggest you watch this
video (he gets into some more technical part of the microwave,
but t
he section that
discusses how the microwave uses water is very well done).
So that is my hesitation
of using Microwaves. Also, fun fact a Maser is a microwave
producing laser!
I'm not seeing an easy way to work this, unless you had
a fiber optic cable that connected the outside world to the machine
in your brain, which has many problems associated with that.
Here's
the punch line:
Q: Would it be totally
impossible to inject much knowledge into the brain using sound waves?
Or maybe a laser to beam the information into a piece of machinery in
the brain?
A:
While I hesitate to
say "totally impossible" I'm not sure possible would be the
right answer either. The brain is a mysterious organ, having
presented many challenges in science, so I do not want to say
"impossible" but based on our current understand I would
say no, it's not possible, not in the ways you have proposed. The
second question proves to be more promising, but only if certain
assumptions are made. Assuming we have a good way of hard-wiring the
brain with machinery, then there may
be a way to convey knowledge into the machine. This is a
large assumption.
