# Decoding Perception Is Not the Same as Reading Thought by Salim Ismail > Decoding perception is not the same as reading thought; human beings can have thoughts without corresponding sensory images. But we do not need to understand every mechanism of the brain before building effective interfaces to it, and those interfaces may become tools for discovering how the brain works. > **— Adapted from Salim Ismail**, *MOONSHOTS Live, October 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Recording or publication:** [MOONSHOTS Live at 28:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blyb1D927pM&t=1703s) — The poster text is an explicit non-verbatim adaptation assembled from the source excerpts below. It preserves the speaker's argument while removing spoken-language filler, restoring the subject, and completing the mechanism or consequence needed for independent use. - **Exact transcript excerpt at [28:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blyb1D927pM&t=1703s):** “Well, I think you, you... Let's be careful. We're decoding the perception here, not the actual thought, right? That's, like, quite a bit more complex than that.” - **Exact transcript excerpt at [29:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blyb1D927pM&t=1746s):** “And if we can change that interface to do a more natural interface, which is interfaced directly with the brain, we used to talk about this in our Singularity University lectures on neuroscience, is, you know, we still have very little idea how the brain works, but you don't need to have, know how it works as long as you can interface effectively with it. And this, I think, gives us the opening to give us really deep interfaces, and then that'll help us figure out how the, how the brain works.” - **Reconciled source dossier:** [[research/ASI and RSI Timeline Research Moonshots|ASI and RSI Timeline Research Moonshots]] — preserves broadcast order, speaker reconciliation, editorial conventions, and the surrounding argument from which this Reminder was promoted. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Article:** [[articles/2026 Annual Report on Brain-Computer Interfaces|2026 Annual Report on Brain-Computer Interfaces]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas|The Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Salim Ismail|Salim Ismail]] - [[wiki/Thought-Perception Distinction|Thought-Perception Distinction]] - [[wiki/Neural Decoding|Neural Decoding]] ## Share on Social Media ``` Decoding perception is not the same as reading thought; human beings can have thoughts without corresponding sensory images. But we do not need to understand every mechanism of the brain before building effective interfaces to it, and those interfaces may become tools for discovering how the brain works. — Adapted from Salim Ismail, MOONSHOTS Live, October 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-salim-ismail-decoding-perception-is-not-the-same-as-reading-thought ```