Elon Musk wants more bandwidth between people and machines. Do we need it?

The occasion of Musk's post was the announcement by Neuralink, his brain-computer interface (BCI) company, that it was officially seeking the first volunteer to receive the "N1," an implant comprising 1,024 electrodes able to listen in on brain neurons. This volunteer, the company said, will be someone who has ALS or has been paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury. The point of the experiment is to let them "control external devices with their thoughts"--specifically, move a computer cursor, or control a phone app. There's little doubt they can do it. Such experiments have been going on for decades.