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How to get smarter? easy! poke 2 holes in your brain and build a computer around the holes, the computer reads data from some usbs and sends the information to your brain, remove the usb and you also removed the information, carry enough usbs and you will hold potentially infinite knowledge in your pockets.

But wait! instead of usbs, let's use data crystals, cause they sound more fancy and futuristic!

Now I do have some doubts, the holes must be inside the brain, why? why not just put them anywhere else on the body and just connect it to the brain? CAUSE IT'S COOLER IF YOUR SKULL LOOKS LIKE SOME ROBOTIC STUFF OBVIOUSLY! then my question would be, where exactly do we put the holes? what brain matter can be sacrificed to leave space for the data crystals? how big are the crystals you might ask, well they are as big as a pinky finger.

rephrasing the question

Must poke holes in brain, must insert shiny rocks inside brain, where to ???

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  • $\begingroup$ In Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy (1978), you would stick your Babel fish in your ear.. $\endgroup$
    – Goodies
    Jan 9, 2022 at 16:18

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I'd go for the temporal bone, behind the ear.

The bone is structurally thick enough to support the docking jack, and this way you don't have flexible structures going around.

For the actual connection between external unit and internal circuitry, however, I'd go for magnetic coupling and ultra-short-range high-frequency radio or even optical signaling. This is because you don't want a mechanical leverage in place, or a jack that could get stuck or break inside. Actually you don't want an "inside" at all, because of dirt and the risk of infection; and achieving a good seal would be hell. A sturdy ceramic port flush with the skin surface, easily cleaned, with jack alignment achieved through magnets (like several cellphones and MacBook Air power cables).

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    $\begingroup$ This is a good answer because it is already has been done. For about 20 years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has bilateral moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception... A CI bypasses acoustic hearing by direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Jan 9, 2022 at 18:12
  • $\begingroup$ It's a pity the precise submit time cannot be seen here. This answer is very similar to mine and I swear I did not copy anything. $\endgroup$
    – Goodies
    Jan 11, 2022 at 8:15
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    $\begingroup$ @Goodies I think I posted some time after you did, because I remember seeing your answer just before I posted mine. Some similarity is to be expected, there aren't all that many possibilities to go around - I myself "copied" from Apple and Oticon products. $\endgroup$
    – LSerni
    Jan 11, 2022 at 9:31
  • $\begingroup$ Thx.. ok.. well I copied my text from my brain. Wireless.. we certainly agree that is the most convenient option !! $\endgroup$
    – Goodies
    Jan 11, 2022 at 16:22
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No handy to put a data device inside !

As said in the comment, consider a hearing-aid lookalike. Stick it in your ear, like Babel fish.

This external memory would need to be fed, making it quite bulky, not suitable for a brain implant, you can't "make space" in any way. You can't remove tissue, because you'll never know what you exactly remove from the brain.

Also, a data cartridge might need regular replacement, or download new information. To do that, you should be able to easily detach it and attach it again. Implants are not handy for that.

Electrodes ?

Using electrons means you won't have many connections. I wonder if that would work, with complex input. There could be some specialized, receiving neural circuitry in your brain receiving it. Certain wiring, able to act as the senses.. letting information in. These gateways should then "distribute" the data. You will have to learn that procedure, you train this as a method, you'll make the neural circuitry yourself.

If you are too lazy to do time consuming serial methods, better use the retina (eye, view)

Retina via VR, the wireless option

When you want to deploy your cartridge, only thing you'll need is put your VR on and go to sleep. At some point, in your sleep, the VR will do a trick to let you open your eyes. Then, the information will reach your brain via billions of retina connected neurons. This involves less training, because your retina is already one of your senses. These neurons are wired to let information in. And it will allow for parallel transfer of information, shortening the procedure.

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    $\begingroup$ Hadn't thought of the retina, but yes, this is the same solution adopted by Fred Hoyle in his 1959's The Black Cloud, one (in my opinion) of SF's milestones. $\endgroup$
    – LSerni
    Jan 11, 2022 at 18:23
  • $\begingroup$ @LSerni there's millions of gangliate cells, tenthousands active in the focus point every second you have your eyes open.. Some savants who know how to remember PI in 40000 decimals use images for numbers, groups of numbers.. the retina can encode these patterns, but how to get the association in place.. $\endgroup$
    – Goodies
    Jan 12, 2022 at 0:43
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Ghost in the shell (the original, not the recent remake) has paved the road for where to place brain data ports: the neck.

enter image description here

Why the neck?

  • it's close to the brain
  • it's close to the main "cabling" to the entire brain, the spine and its marrow
  • it doesn't affect other functions like eating, talking, seeing, hearing, breathing
  • it's both easily accessible and protectable
  • it has plenty of space for installing multiple ports (we know the pain of having always less USB ports than peripherals, right?)
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  • $\begingroup$ I think the Matrix and Altered Carbon use a similar location too. $\endgroup$
    – user93359
    Jan 9, 2022 at 18:09
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    $\begingroup$ @BeyondDisbelief Ghost in the Shell the manga came out in 1989 $\endgroup$
    – L.Dutch ♦
    Jan 9, 2022 at 18:15
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Definitely not IN the brain, electronics and digital technology advancement would require an operation every five years or so.

But on the skull? Think 'Frankenstein'. Replaceable horns, or to be fashionable, disguise then as 'hair buns' or 'pony tails' or such. Even skull caps and 'baseball caps'.

So how do we interface them? Already solved. China is leading in the technology.

Abstract Hydrogel bioelectronics that can interface biological tissues and flexible electronics is at the core of the growing field of healthcare monitoring, smart drug systems, and wearable and implantable devices. Here, a simple strategy is demonstrated to prototype all-hydrogel bioelectronics with embedded arbitrary conductive networks using tough hydrogels and liquid metal. Due to their excellent stretchability, the resultant all-hydrogel bioelectronics exhibits stable electrochemical properties at large tensile stretch and various modes of deformation. The potential of fabricated all-hydrogel bioelectronics is demonstrated as wearable strain sensors, cardiac patches, and near-field communication (NFC) devices for monitoring various physiological conditions wirelessly. The presented simple platform paves the way of implantable hydrogel electronics for Internet-of-Things and tissue-machine interfacing applications.

They would be easily removeable, and swappable. Snap on snap off. "Switching your mind to focus on another task' would be literal - if one switched from, say, building a boat to reading philosophy, one need only switch the data pack from 'maker/builder' to 'thinker/philosopher' 'Changing one's mind' would take on a whole new meaning. If one is interrupted during a meeting, one might say 'just a sec, I need to switch my pony tail'.

'Learning' could be done during sleep - remove the data pack, plug it into an upgrade interface, and sleep away while the latest advancements in quantum mechanics are downloaded.

Or how about swapping out your 'mind' with your nerdy kid sister, when going on that 'special date' with that 'hunk' you really want to impress? You know, the way one sister 'borrows' that special dress from their sibling? 'Shrinking it in the wash' would become 'corrupting the data' by an incorrect download. "You wiped out Calculus and replaced it with Zingmoda Vids? I have an EXAM tomorrow!!!!!!!"

The problem, however, will not be addressed by technology, but by algorithms - data search and retrieval. For a lot of us, the issue is not that we cannot remember, but that we can not recall the memory. When we refresh our 'minds' on the topic, how often do we retort "I knew that!!!!!'

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