The story of brain-computer interfaces is not a recent invention. It is a 250-year arc of curiosity, obsession, failure, and breakthroughs running from a scientist's laboratory in Bologna, through the basements of Brown University, to the operating rooms of Phoenix, Arizona, where a paralyzed man first moved a cursor with his mind in 2024. To understand where BCIs are going, you must first understand where they came from. This is that story. Table of Contents What Is a Brain-Computer...