I heard about the possibility of a computer chip to help people diet, and even though I can see what they’re going for, the part of me that’s studied psychology and watched Sci Fi movies gets a wee smidge freaked out.
So this chip is supposed to send a signal, based on your blood fat levels, that makes you not hungry anymore when it thinks you’ve had enough. In the lab, this has made some fat mice lose a bunch of weight and eat less. Great! Now what if this chip gets broken? What if it tells you you’re full way too soon? What if people waste away to nothing because of this thing? I think of all those studies where they messed with the hypothalamuses of rats, and those rats died because of what they did. They just stopped eating. I know we’re smarter than rats, but still.
But as I thought about that, I started to question just what’s freaking me out. I know this is years down the road, and they’re going to research the hell out of it before they try it on people, and we already know the stuff about hunger signals and what can go screwy if they go awry. I also know this is less invasive than having surgery to help people lose weight, and that group of people is who this is designed for. Plus, what’s the difference between this and, say, a pacemaker? An insolen pump? Is it the fact that it’s messing with people’s brains? What exactly is it about this that makes me get all freaked out? If they do it right, it could seriously help bring obesity problems under control.
So what does everybody think. Good idea? Bad idea? Totally creepy? Carin’s nuts? Oh boy. I’m betting there’ll be lots of votes for me being nuts, regardless of what you think of this diet chip. But I’m curious.
Could your problem be the potential for misuse or abuse? Like anybody with even the slightest hint of a weight issue will just be able to get a chip instead of going for a walk? The idea that because of a chip, there will almost quite literally be no need to move or think? Because that was my first reaction.