A little story about improving communication without putting chips in our brains:

For 6 months of my Human Development education, I worked as a preschool caregiver in the UC-associated preschool. I had four 3-year-olds in my care who were initially brand new to preschool.

They were about as chaotic as you'd expect for 3-year-olds stepping into a routinized school situation for the first time.

The UC association meant that we'd read new child development research findings & find how to apply them in practice in the classroom immediately.

Brief aside: Someday I'll tell you what we learned about the effects of praise from teachers on children's intrinsic motivation.

Thanks to that, I've never been able to see a "Like" button without thinking about how it functions as a behavioral intervention.

Anyway...

One thing we learned was how to coach the children through conflict resolution.

3-year-olds get into a LOT of conflict with one another, & their impulse control & emotional regulation skills are just getting going, so this is a really critical time and area for development.

So when a problem broke out between kids, we'd coach them in talking their problems through. There was specific language around stating the harm done, inviting empathy, & reassuring one another that we don't want to harm each other.

It was rough at first! Kids wanted to hurt each other back to get justice. Kids would cry, scream, stomp, and get so angry, and find it all so unfair. We didn't discourage their emotions in any way, but we kept on coaching.

Just a few months in, something *amazing* happened.

I vividly remember being out on the playground, hanging with one of the kids who liked to stick nearby me.

We were walking around trying to find somewhere he could detach from me & feel good to explore, when I came across a conflict resolution conversation in progress.

Except there was no teacher or caregiver around. There were two little boys and one little girl. I didn't see what had happened, but one of the little boys was upset. And instead of stomping or hitting, he was using the words he was coached to resolve the situation.

"When you did that to me, it felt like..."
"I know that you don't like it when people..."
"I would never want to hurt you this way..."

Reader: It worked, they made up, & I melted.

The third child was helping to facilitate the whole thing, reminding the two of their friendship.

In case you haven't seen a three-year-old lately, let me remind you that they are adorable.

They have humongous heads and small arms and they look like they could topple over at any moment.

And there they were, negotiating peace, friendship, and healthy boundaries.

What did this take? Not a lot. A bit of training of caregivers, a bit of time and attention, and some key practices in how to communicate with children - ex: get down on their level so you don't tower over them, be patient with their emotions.

Not difficult stuff. Low tech.

I don't mean this cruelly, but many of the skills I picked up in those 6 months have come in handy while dealing with terrible communication practices in my jobs in the tech industry.

It's clear that not everyone is taught these sorts of lessons in communication as children.

That's not to say I'm a perfect communicator AT ALL. I'm 100% sure the kids at that preschool will grow to be better communicators than me.

But that experience helps me trust the power of education, educators, & literacy as powerful, low tech, & low harm solutions to problems.

So, there's plenty to do to improve human communication that doesn't risk bricking people or disrupting society.

If it's important enough to throw millions at creating a brain chip, it's important enough to pay teachers well & develop curricula. I think we should start there.

And fellow adults, it's not too late to pick up better communication skills for yourself!

Perhaps before drilling a hole in your head, try reading a book like this one, or attending a class (often free) in its methods. There's a ton of stuff to try. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2691858-non-violent-communication