Concepts

After centuries of research in Connectomics, humanity has advanced enough to be able to download knowledge into a human brain. This is done by downloading the concepts into the subject's external memory brainlets. Note that concepts can also be installed into androids, just as long as an android-compatible certificate is present. Android-compatible certificates can only be emitted by Cyberpol-authorized entities, and by the Space Authority.
=== How a concept is downloaded ===
# The compressed concept is downloaded from a server and stored in digital memory.
# The concept is then verified with a checksum for integrity, and then authenticated against the publisher's public crypto key. If the user trusts the publisher, concept is installed into his NPUs.
# After the concept is installed, the user can choose to replay required memories to trigger the synthetic neural connections required to access the concept. Connections are between the user's neurons, the nanotech scaffolding previously grown into the user's brain, and his neural router. The replay can come in the form of high-density audiovisual stimulation, also available from the manufacturer. Depending on the user's state of mind, he might not be able to replay the full audiovisual stimulation, and he has to defer the full instalation for later.
# The neural connections are formed. Up to this point, the user has no idea what kind of knowledge they have downloaded. Simulations can be done with a cortical simulator, very expensive and specialized hardware that takes several VPacks. Cortical simulators are preloaded with a user's neural data, and can return a graph of the downloaded knowledge (because of their price and the patented technology used, cortical simulators are usually purchased by corporations to test the safety of concepts, and to detect potential knowledge hazards when hiring new users. Cortical simulators are also able to trigger and detect spyware, which is why they are used in technology labs and security stores, which rent them from manufacturers at affordable prices).
# Once the neural connections are formed, the user starts "remembering" the concepts they have downloaded.
==== Side effects ====
Due to the nature of the neural implant, the user may start dreaming the concepts he has just learned. It is not recommended to download more than 20 MUs per day, and not more than 50 MUs per week. If a user has downloaded knowledge with high requirements, installation may fail and the user will have gained no knowledge. However, in most cases, the user will experience psychedelic dreams, often disturbing and confusing. To prevent this problem, the user is recommended to install a concept's prerequirements at least a week before installing the required concept.
=== Certification ===
There are two kinds of certification regarding concept: Origin Certification, given to enterprises, and Knowledge Certification, given to users.
==== Origin Certification ====
Origin certification is given to Concept Certification companies which grant authentication certificates, whose chain-of-trust goes straight to the Space Authority.
==== Knowledge Certification ====
Knowledge Certification is given to a user after they have downloaded and installed all the concepts in a downloadable concept set.
=== Rogue Concepts ===
A rogue concept is a set of knowledge that is purposedly deceitful. Due to the advances in nanotechnology and the ease with which a hacker can intrude on a company by tapping onto optical terminals, and even firmware, companies began installing rogue concepts in so-called "honeypot" sections of their databases, along with legitimate knowledge. This way, if a disgrunted employee or infiltrator downloads a set of concepts from a company, it's most probable that they'll download rogue concepts along with the targeted knowledge they plan to download.
To avoid false triggering of a rogue concept, a company has a safety map of valid knowledge, accessible only by high-rank security staff. Naturally, companies also store fake versions of a safety map to fool intruders.
Because legitimate users are not supposed to access those concepts in the first place, the creation of rogue concepts for security reasons is not actually illegal. However, distributing unauthorized concepts to the public is a federal crime, and is persecuted by the Cyberpol.
Unfortunately, due to their ease of access, people often purchase goods acquired by concept dealers, endangering their own sanity.
==== History of Rogue Concepts ====
The first confirmed rogue concept was a mix of a virus which targeted early neural routers, and an aggressive religious concept. This "cognitive virus" gave birth to a multitude of synthetic cults in the first half of the 22nd Earth century.
The virus exploited a concept-masking vulnerability in neural routers, which allowed an attacker to install concepts into the target's neural expansion module without their consent or knowledge. This vulnerability was later exploited by criminals to force the installation of parasitic concepts that were deterrent to the target. Among the rogue concepts discovered by the FBI in the first few decades of knowledge downloading, were:
* Adoration of a Leader
* Artificial phobias
* Artificial recklessness
* Irrational distrust of authority
* Gradual rejection of family values
* Self-destructive behavior
* Magical thinking
* Superstitious behavior
Because it is impossible to know the contents of a concept beforehand (unless scanned by a cortical simulator), the only safe way to download concepts is to verify their integrity though the authorized channels.
With the standarization of concepts, every separate set of knowledge must be compartmentalized in a unique "concept slot" in a concept file. This way, the user can choose to install or not a particular concept. It should be noted, however, that certification for a skill or ability can only be emitted after a user has installed every single one of the concepts in a downloadable set.
=== Cognitive viruses ===
Cognitive viruses are a specific kind of rogue concept which, once stored in a neuromorphic chip, functions like a finite state machine. A cognitive virus is virtually undetectable, and must be thoroughly scanned inside a cortical simulator to be detected. Its functions are mostly to act as spyware. It is suspected that corporations also include cognitive viruses in their data banks, to report automated Intellectual Property infringement, but this has never been proven.
Category:Technology