But will we be punished for thinking it? Or will the chip simply cut off such trains of thought in the first place? :) "Revolutionary new brain implant improves mental health by suppressing damaging* trains of thought"

The former, in a couple centuries. Centralized monitoring of common thoughts will be a solved problem, and the means to circumvent it won't be known by many. This ideal oppression machine will last for a few centuries.

There have already been experiments in altering personal biases and beliefs through transcranial magnetic stimulation [0][1]. Direct electrical stimulation will eventually permit a greater degree of control.

> We presented participants with a reminder of death and a critique of their in-group ostensibly written by a member of an out-group, then experimentally decreased both avowed belief in God and out-group derogation by downregulating pMFC activity via transcranial magnetic stimulation. The results provide the first evidence that group prejudice and religious belief are susceptible to targeted neuromodulation, and point to a shared cognitive mechanism underlying concrete and abstract decision processes.

[0] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26341901/

[1] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151014084955.h...