Implications: Human Cognition and Communication and the Emergence of the Cognitive Society

Abstract

The practical embedding of many convergent communications, information, and biological technologies in the everyday lives of people all over the globe is leading to fundamental changes in human cognition capabilities, perceptions of “wellness”, and norms of societal interactions. This chapter applies the term “Cognitive Society” broadly to these emerging paradigms, and the term “cognome” to concepts and rules of higher cognition that are the target of research into the workings of individual and socially interconnected brains, made possible through transdisciplinary convergences in the physical and social sciences. The chapter discusses assistive robotic technologies for cognitive and social support; expanding our understanding of the human mind and how we might conceive of assistive devices; the building of individualized genome-based datasets and analysis tools; and how these pathways can take our society forward. The interconnections between converging knowledge tools and their broad effects on society and individuals cannot as yet be predicted, but society must work to maintain their focus on enriching individual human lives while simultaneously working to sustain our shared social and environmental living space. Several initiatives to focus on this are proposed.