Panic

• Paris hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer provides France with a huge geopolitical opportunity.
• Former French president François Hollande was credited with instigating the successful bid to stage the 2024 Games, 100 years after Paris was last host in 1924.
• But it is Emmanuel Macron who has enjoyed taking up the mantle in his quest to present a new vision of France.
• Some believe Macron being president was just what the Games needed, given his apparent quest to transform France into a more outward-looking, progressive nation.
• Indeed, Macron has proved adept at playing soft power games through sport (including his efforts to keep the footballer Kylian Mbappé playing in France).

City of light (and dark)

• Elsewhere, in a city that struggles to cope with traffic density, transport arrangements and problems with accommodation are worrying some officials as the Olympics approaches.
• By the end of September, it could be that many people across the world have a much more positive view of France and its capital city.
• Problems are mounting that could well undermine one of the president’s cornerstone projects in projecting his vision of a new France.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• He warned that writing undermines memory – that it is nothing but a reminder of some previous thought.
• Today, the U.S. is in the middle of a similar panic over TikTok, with critics worried about its impact on viewers’ freedom of thought.
• Brain-computer interfaces, called BCIs, have rightfully prompted debate about the appropriate limits of technologies that interact with the nervous system.
• But as my research on neurorights argues, protecting the mind isn’t nearly as easy as protecting bodies and property.

Thoughts vs. things

• The body has clear boundaries, and things that cross it without permission are not allowed.
• It is normally obvious when a person violates laws prohibiting assault or battery, for example.
• The same is true about regulations that protect a person’s property.

• Instead, a person’s thoughts are largely the product of other peoples’ thoughts and actions.
• Everything from how a person perceives colors and shapes to our most basic beliefs are influenced by what others say and do.
• If I’m not allowed to influence others’ thoughts, then I can never leave my house, because just by my doing so I’m causing people to think and act in certain ways.

Neurotech and control

• People may not be able to completely control what gets into their heads, but they should have significant control over what goes out – and some people believe societies need “neurorights” regulations to ensure that.
• Neurotech represents a new threat to our ability to control what thoughts people reveal to others.
• There are ongoing efforts, for example, to develop wearable neurotech that would read and adjust the customer’s brainwaves to help them improve their mood or get better sleep.

• For example, nations could prohibit companies that make commercial neurotech devices, like those meant to improve the wearer’s sleep from storing the brainwave data those devices collect.
• Yet I would argue that it may not be necessary, or even feasible, to protect against neurotech putting information into our brains – though it is hard to predict what capabilities neurotech will have even a few years from now.
• But one thing is certain: With or without neurotech, our control over our own minds is already less absolute than many of us like to think.

Parker Crutchfield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• While 96% of teachers feel obligated to intervene, mindful of their duty of care toward pupils, yet 74% feel unclear on intervention guidance within school settings.
• In response to this pressing need, CPI has launched a training solution tailored specifically for school staff.
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• Following the Paris bed bug craze, Orkin Canada urges residents and tourists not to panic but to be vigilant and stay on the lookout for signs and traces of bed bugs in order to avoid infestations.
• While bed bugs are visible to the naked eye, they are cryptic and excellent at hiding, making them difficult to control.
• Available across Canada, the K9 team detects bed bugs and their eggs, dead or alive, signaling to their handlers for further inspection.
• The Orkin Canada bed bug list is compiled based on the number of commercial and residential bed bug treatments performed by the company in 2023 (January 1 – December 31).