> I actually really hope that is the case. I have a feeling of existential dread every time I imagine all the effort I am putting into learning and acquiring new skills all going to waste when those tasks become absolutely second nature to everyone, irrespective of effort or time investment.

I'm not a neuroscientist, but with such a limited understanding of the brain, beyond just the anatomy and the nature of neurotransmitters, let alone consciousness, I think you can allay such fears for the time being.

I think this could have significant benefits for neural diseases like Alzheimers, Parkinsons, ALS and possibly anxiety and addiction/mania based maladies but the idea of simply being able to 'download' the ability to learn a new skill in real time seems entirely preposterous.

I say that because some of the skills that I have been able to turn into careers have actually required I learn something where my brain no longer interferes with the process so that it is done effectively.

The notion of muscle memory is real, meaning you cease thinking about it and it just occurs out without any effort due to continual practice and repetition: my question is how can your body recover from an unexpected/unpredictable error if you haven't already practiced that same scenario over and over, and you were only given the default normal operation of x skill? Most learning is adaptable and gained from observed behavior, be it our own or others, to mistakes.

Experience is a funny thing, and our brains are flawed in recalling many of our most cherished or dreaded events and experiences accurately; I honestly think this could be a medical boon for the aforementioned diseases, but the Matrix-like learning will probably be a quixotic pursuit, in my opinion. One that sounds awesome on paper but would be horrible in practice.

I agree with most of what you say; however.. if you consider some novel ability like speaking a foreign language, I would think that your aptitude in such a skill is a product of many factors, albeit memory and recall being paramount. If what Elon says about this device is true, and we can use it to mentally interface with the web, then I don't see what would stop us from speaking new languages "on-demand". This is a very naive and layman perspective but I believe I've heard Elon claiming ideas like this around the potential for this device. Not sure what the delta is between practical applications like disease treatment and this somewhat sci-fi scenario, but I hope it is large.

Unfortunately, there is 0 chance that that this technology will be able to help with stuff like Alzheimer's (a disease that we don't even know the biology of - plaques are looking increasingly unlikely as the real mechanism) or any kind of higher brain function within our grandchildren's lifetimes. We don't even understand how computation happens in single-celled organisms, trying to jump to interpreting memory in humans is just so far off that it's like 10th century surgeons dreaming of re-attaching nerves.

However, there is probably hope for helping people who have lost control of their limbs through spinal chord injuries and similar effects within our lifetimes - this is a much more feasible problem that is already being worked on. Maybe even some fun gadgets for "thought"-based gameplay (simple movements).

I don't feel existential dread, but I certainly do a feel a level of demotivation.

That being said, neuralink not being able to do this at the present moment is of no help to people who need to learn right now.

This is exactly how I feel about this. I hope this will help the people who are in need but I really don't think we'll know when to stop. I don't like the idea of this implant to be necessary to compete in the future. Granted it is still far in the future, but it is still kinda frightening knowing just like AI this could go out of our hands anytime.