In January 2024, Elon Musk’s $5 billion Neuralink startup successfully implanted a brain chip into Norland Arbaugh’s brain, a 30 year old quadriplegic. The BCI (Brain-computer Interface) was placed in the region of the brain controlling movement, allowing Norland to move a computer mouse and keyboard using his thoughts. Down the line, Musk asserts that we will be able to communicate with each other using only thoughts via brainchip without resorting to language. “Stupid words” will no longer be needed within the next ten years, as language will be replaced by superior “consensual telepathy.” Master linguist and lyrical genius Nicki Minaj considers the ethical, cultural and social implications of the devaluing of language implied by this looming “digital telepathy.”
