FDA Considers Approving Droud?

In Larry Niven’s "Known Space" series he refers to a device called a "tasp" that is used to electrically stimulate the pleasure center of someone’s brain. You point the tasp at the person (e.g., from a place of hiding) and activate it, causing the person to experience the most intense pleasure possible and thus "make their day." (It’s apparently common to do this in public parks in the 30th century.)

Unfortunately, people get addicted to this kind of pleasure and many go get a surgically-implanted version of the tasp known as a "droud" stuck in their heads.

They then act just like those mice whose pleasure centers we’ve wired so that the mice can get pleasure by pushing a lever. The mice thereafter won’t do anything but push the lever. It totally ruins their lives.

Droud-addicts or "wireheads" as they are known, are the same. Niven’s hero Louis Wu, who for a time in his life is a wirehead, has to have his droud set up with a timer so complicated that he can’t simply reactive the droud. He thus gets a little additional time between pleasure sessions to do things like . . . eat and stuff.

Eventually Louis Wu gets off the wire, meaning that he’s bested the greatest form of addiction ever known to mankind, but it’s hard for him.

Now the FDA is considering approving something like a droud for depressed people in the real world.

Mind you, it’s a low-grade 20th century one. It stimulates the vagus nerve (not the pleasure center directly) that connects up to various parts of the brain. And despite glowing testimonials from some users, there is doubt about whether the thing even works.

But still . . .

GET THE STORY.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

One thought on “FDA Considers Approving Droud?”

  1. Thanks! I remember the wirehead thing, and I had a vague idea it was Niven, but I couldn’t remember for sure. Niven’s oeuvre is so big, I could have searched forever. (Oh, the agony!) 🙂

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