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This is not quite within the Artificial Intelligence Arena yet, but I shouldn't think it's far off --- and I would hazard a guess that AI probably plays some part in the integration, but I don't know !!!
Notwithstanding that, this is a fantastic read I highly recommend it !!!
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Noland Arbaugh
@ModdedQuad
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21-month update
Howdy! It’s me again. Today is exactly 21 months since my surgery, and boy do I have a lot to talk about. I’ve missed so much and have wanted to hop on and give my opinions on things going on around the world so many times, and maybe I still will, but I’ve been so busy and trying to focus on so many different things that in some ways social media just becomes the least of my priorities. That should be changing soon, as I will talk about later on in this post.
First, just a quick word on where I’ve been.
School. I could probably just end it there, and I think most people would understand, but I’ll talk about it more later in this post. The short of it is, my life is basically just studying. It’s probably what I should be doing right now instead of this post, but I’ve wanted to reconnect with y’all for a while, and today seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Furthermore, about a month ago I developed what’s called a pressure sore. There are a few other names for it: bed sore, pressure wound, bane of my existence; take your pick. They come in a variety of severity and location, but they’re fairly common to quadriplegics. I don’t recommend looking them up online; the images are very disturbing and definitely not for the squeamish. Essentially, you know how if you’ve been sitting down for a while, your butt starts to get tingly or sore or starts to hurt a bit? That sensation is your body telling you that there is a lack of blood flow to that spot. Normal people will reposition or stand up and shake it out, and everything is fine. If they didn’t, their flesh would literally die.
For me, I can’t feel that sensation at all, and there are certain places on my body that are incredibly susceptible to that issue. I’ve dealt with pressure sores many times in the past, and they are not fun. They take forever to heal and can be extremely dangerous. It’s an open wound on your body, and that is no bueno. Well, I’m not sure how it happened, but I developed one, and it has been awful. It’s kept me completely bedridden and unable to do a whole lot of anything. It’s a bummer, and I hate it. That being said, I’m doing my best to help it heal and still accomplish the things I want to do. It’s not easy, but I have an incredible support system around me, and I refuse to take this sort of thing lying down… figuratively. But enough of the Debbie downer pity party. Onto the fun stuff.
Neuralink
I know this is probably why a lot of you read these updates, so I will put this upfront, and those of you who don’t want to keep reading can stop after this.
To be honest, I don’t have much to report here. My sessions with Neuralink have diminished substantially, so at this point I'm fairly hands-off...
That’s not something I am upset at, hurt by, or disappointed in. Rather, it brings me so much joy to know that there are now so many other people who are getting to experience this technology in such amazing ways and are able to transform their lives with it as I have. I see constant updates about what they are working on, and it’s so rad. So, this is my way of saying that if you read these updates to hear about all of the cool stuff Neuralink is doing, I probably won’t have what you’re looking for. You may be better off finding some of the other participants and following their journeys, as well as @Neuralink
’s page and website. I’ll still continue to repost everything, and of course I'll tell y'all anything cool that I'm working on, but I just figured I’d let y’all know.
These days, the team might call me to test something once in a blue moon, but for the most part I collect data and give them feedback. Then I just sit back and let the others have their fun. And I’m sure they are! Robot arms, full control of a keyboard, gaming—the world is their oyster. I don’t know about y’all, but it brings me so much happiness seeing the other participants do such cool things and have so much fun. I will continue to be their biggest cheerleader.
School
This is where the majority of my time lies. This semester, I'm enrolled in full-semester courses in chemistry, biology, and pre-calculus, along with mini-mesters in introduction to logic, comparative world religions, and sociology, which I recently completed. From what I can tell, I received an A in my sociology class and currently have an A in biology, chemistry, logic, and religion; however, I am facing a few issues in my pre-calculus class due to disagreements with my professor. We are working through these issues, and I hope to finish the class with an A as well. I’m having so much fun. Currently I’m enrolled at the community college in my hometown, and I intend to do one more semester here before trying to transfer to a bigger university. If I haven’t mentioned this already, I’m majoring in neuroscience. Seems fitting, right?
I don’t believe I ever would’ve been able to accomplish this without Neuralink. I considered whether or not to add what I just said. I’m sure there are other quadriplegics who have accomplished what I’m doing without the help of this technology, so I don’t want to diminish that or make anyone believe that going back to school is impossible. There are ways to make your dreams come true, even if you’re not a cyborg. However, I cannot imagine managing the current workload of homework, exams, research, and studying without Eve.
Speaking/Business
At the beginning of September I attended the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Park City, Utah, as a paid speaker. That sentence seemed like an impossibility two years ago. But it’s just the beginning. My business is built, my legal is near complete, I’m surrounding myself with a team of amazing folks, and I plan on speaking once or twice a month in the same fashion beginning as soon as January. Conferences, interviews, podcasts—you name it, and I want to be there spreading the word about how amazing this technology is, the growth it’s experiencing, the possibilities of the future, and how it has so deeply affected my life. Of course, these are just a few of the things I am passionate about. I could talk about these things all day, and it is officially my job. How incredible is that? How lucky am I?
Everyone I have met, whether that’s through the study, over social media, or at events that I have participated in, have been such amazing, inspiring people. The network I’m building is one I never imagined I’d be blessed with. This is more than just helping me go to school or get a job or have a little fun; it’s about reconnecting me with the world. It’s about connecting everyone someday. For the first time in the last 9 1/2 years, I feel as if I am an active participant in a community again.
More…
There’s so much more to talk about. There are a lot of fun things that I want to do and bring y’all along with me. I’ve been considering doing another long stream (Definitely not 72 hours again; that was too damn hard) where I could do like an AMA, play some games with people, and just hang out. If I do, it’ll probably be around the same time I did it last year, so the end of November. Maybe I’ll make it a tradition. I’m an Aggie; we’re all about our traditions. Speaking of… how bout them Ags! Gig ‘em
I’m also writing a book! Honestly, I want to write two, but I’ve been loading myself up with so much that I’ll finish one and maybe work on the other one as sort of a fun side project. I have a release date in mind, but I need to complete the first draft before making any bold predictions. Just kidding. It’s coming out next year. I’m all about outrageous predictions.
I think I could go on just rambling about random things, but I’ll save that for daily posts or when I stream for y’all.
On that note, I will tease y'all just a bit and say I have some big news that I'll be dropping at my two year update. Look forward to it.
Acknowledgments
As always, I have so many people to thank. Of course, I am deeply grateful to the Neuralink team for providing me with the opportunity to be the first and for graciously welcoming me into their family. Of course, I’m a family member kept at arm’s length because of the FDA, but one day we’re all going to have some brewskis together.
@elonmusk
, thank you for constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation. You are an inspiration to so many, and the perfect amount of visionary and eccentricity come together to make dreams a reality. Although I’m still waiting on my Iron Man suit. How hard could it be?
The community, for being interested in something I considered science fiction before I woke up with a literal chip in my brain. In a lot of ways, y’all are the engine that propels this runaway train. Without your interest, talking about it with your family and friends, reposting things on social media, getting involved personally, or investing in our collective semi-insanity, this would never work. Just make sure y’all have contingency plans for Skynet. I know I do. And if someday we end up on different sides of that war, just know that I’ll kill my subscribers last.
And finally, I just want to take a moment to praise God for all He has done in my life. I am so incredibly blessed, and He is to thank for all of it. I am a Christian first, and everything else follows. All glory to God and may He bless all of you.
Until next time,
Noland & Eve
2:19 AM · Oct 29, 2025
·
85.1K
Views
Notwithstanding that, this is a fantastic read I highly recommend it !!!
Pinned
Noland Arbaugh
@ModdedQuad
Subscribe
Click to Subscribe to ModdedQuad
21-month update
Howdy! It’s me again. Today is exactly 21 months since my surgery, and boy do I have a lot to talk about. I’ve missed so much and have wanted to hop on and give my opinions on things going on around the world so many times, and maybe I still will, but I’ve been so busy and trying to focus on so many different things that in some ways social media just becomes the least of my priorities. That should be changing soon, as I will talk about later on in this post.
First, just a quick word on where I’ve been.
School. I could probably just end it there, and I think most people would understand, but I’ll talk about it more later in this post. The short of it is, my life is basically just studying. It’s probably what I should be doing right now instead of this post, but I’ve wanted to reconnect with y’all for a while, and today seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Furthermore, about a month ago I developed what’s called a pressure sore. There are a few other names for it: bed sore, pressure wound, bane of my existence; take your pick. They come in a variety of severity and location, but they’re fairly common to quadriplegics. I don’t recommend looking them up online; the images are very disturbing and definitely not for the squeamish. Essentially, you know how if you’ve been sitting down for a while, your butt starts to get tingly or sore or starts to hurt a bit? That sensation is your body telling you that there is a lack of blood flow to that spot. Normal people will reposition or stand up and shake it out, and everything is fine. If they didn’t, their flesh would literally die.
For me, I can’t feel that sensation at all, and there are certain places on my body that are incredibly susceptible to that issue. I’ve dealt with pressure sores many times in the past, and they are not fun. They take forever to heal and can be extremely dangerous. It’s an open wound on your body, and that is no bueno. Well, I’m not sure how it happened, but I developed one, and it has been awful. It’s kept me completely bedridden and unable to do a whole lot of anything. It’s a bummer, and I hate it. That being said, I’m doing my best to help it heal and still accomplish the things I want to do. It’s not easy, but I have an incredible support system around me, and I refuse to take this sort of thing lying down… figuratively. But enough of the Debbie downer pity party. Onto the fun stuff.
Neuralink
I know this is probably why a lot of you read these updates, so I will put this upfront, and those of you who don’t want to keep reading can stop after this.
To be honest, I don’t have much to report here. My sessions with Neuralink have diminished substantially, so at this point I'm fairly hands-off...
That’s not something I am upset at, hurt by, or disappointed in. Rather, it brings me so much joy to know that there are now so many other people who are getting to experience this technology in such amazing ways and are able to transform their lives with it as I have. I see constant updates about what they are working on, and it’s so rad. So, this is my way of saying that if you read these updates to hear about all of the cool stuff Neuralink is doing, I probably won’t have what you’re looking for. You may be better off finding some of the other participants and following their journeys, as well as @Neuralink
’s page and website. I’ll still continue to repost everything, and of course I'll tell y'all anything cool that I'm working on, but I just figured I’d let y’all know.
These days, the team might call me to test something once in a blue moon, but for the most part I collect data and give them feedback. Then I just sit back and let the others have their fun. And I’m sure they are! Robot arms, full control of a keyboard, gaming—the world is their oyster. I don’t know about y’all, but it brings me so much happiness seeing the other participants do such cool things and have so much fun. I will continue to be their biggest cheerleader.
School
This is where the majority of my time lies. This semester, I'm enrolled in full-semester courses in chemistry, biology, and pre-calculus, along with mini-mesters in introduction to logic, comparative world religions, and sociology, which I recently completed. From what I can tell, I received an A in my sociology class and currently have an A in biology, chemistry, logic, and religion; however, I am facing a few issues in my pre-calculus class due to disagreements with my professor. We are working through these issues, and I hope to finish the class with an A as well. I’m having so much fun. Currently I’m enrolled at the community college in my hometown, and I intend to do one more semester here before trying to transfer to a bigger university. If I haven’t mentioned this already, I’m majoring in neuroscience. Seems fitting, right?
I don’t believe I ever would’ve been able to accomplish this without Neuralink. I considered whether or not to add what I just said. I’m sure there are other quadriplegics who have accomplished what I’m doing without the help of this technology, so I don’t want to diminish that or make anyone believe that going back to school is impossible. There are ways to make your dreams come true, even if you’re not a cyborg. However, I cannot imagine managing the current workload of homework, exams, research, and studying without Eve.
Speaking/Business
At the beginning of September I attended the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Park City, Utah, as a paid speaker. That sentence seemed like an impossibility two years ago. But it’s just the beginning. My business is built, my legal is near complete, I’m surrounding myself with a team of amazing folks, and I plan on speaking once or twice a month in the same fashion beginning as soon as January. Conferences, interviews, podcasts—you name it, and I want to be there spreading the word about how amazing this technology is, the growth it’s experiencing, the possibilities of the future, and how it has so deeply affected my life. Of course, these are just a few of the things I am passionate about. I could talk about these things all day, and it is officially my job. How incredible is that? How lucky am I?
Everyone I have met, whether that’s through the study, over social media, or at events that I have participated in, have been such amazing, inspiring people. The network I’m building is one I never imagined I’d be blessed with. This is more than just helping me go to school or get a job or have a little fun; it’s about reconnecting me with the world. It’s about connecting everyone someday. For the first time in the last 9 1/2 years, I feel as if I am an active participant in a community again.
More…
There’s so much more to talk about. There are a lot of fun things that I want to do and bring y’all along with me. I’ve been considering doing another long stream (Definitely not 72 hours again; that was too damn hard) where I could do like an AMA, play some games with people, and just hang out. If I do, it’ll probably be around the same time I did it last year, so the end of November. Maybe I’ll make it a tradition. I’m an Aggie; we’re all about our traditions. Speaking of… how bout them Ags! Gig ‘em
I’m also writing a book! Honestly, I want to write two, but I’ve been loading myself up with so much that I’ll finish one and maybe work on the other one as sort of a fun side project. I have a release date in mind, but I need to complete the first draft before making any bold predictions. Just kidding. It’s coming out next year. I’m all about outrageous predictions.
I think I could go on just rambling about random things, but I’ll save that for daily posts or when I stream for y’all.
On that note, I will tease y'all just a bit and say I have some big news that I'll be dropping at my two year update. Look forward to it.
Acknowledgments
As always, I have so many people to thank. Of course, I am deeply grateful to the Neuralink team for providing me with the opportunity to be the first and for graciously welcoming me into their family. Of course, I’m a family member kept at arm’s length because of the FDA, but one day we’re all going to have some brewskis together.
@elonmusk
, thank you for constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation. You are an inspiration to so many, and the perfect amount of visionary and eccentricity come together to make dreams a reality. Although I’m still waiting on my Iron Man suit. How hard could it be?
The community, for being interested in something I considered science fiction before I woke up with a literal chip in my brain. In a lot of ways, y’all are the engine that propels this runaway train. Without your interest, talking about it with your family and friends, reposting things on social media, getting involved personally, or investing in our collective semi-insanity, this would never work. Just make sure y’all have contingency plans for Skynet. I know I do. And if someday we end up on different sides of that war, just know that I’ll kill my subscribers last.
And finally, I just want to take a moment to praise God for all He has done in my life. I am so incredibly blessed, and He is to thank for all of it. I am a Christian first, and everything else follows. All glory to God and may He bless all of you.
Until next time,
Noland & Eve
2:19 AM · Oct 29, 2025
·
85.1K
Views
