Thank you to my uncle.  He knows the things that intrigue me, and the things I think about.  He sent me a link to a video from 60 Minutes that shows you why.  I recommend you make 12 minutes of our time available and watch this video to the end. 

Many of you have heard me talk about or theorize about the path that is somewhat inevitable... the human computer interface.  Ever since we developed these silicon devices that process data and are now being uploaded with software that mimics intelligence, the quest for actually connecting our brains to the machine has been the holy grail of computer science.  Thoughts are made by a series of complex interconnections in the brain by neurons.  Neurons are cells that function by sending electrical impulses.  These are called action potentials) down what is called an axon.  These in turn stimulate other neurons that ultimately translates into action, thought, or memory.

A computer works in a very similar way.  There are microprocessors or what we call microchips (chips for short).  These ‘chips’ are made of silicon and have tiny transistors cut into them.  These transistors act as gateways for information.  Information in it’s purest form is in binary, i.e. 0 or 1.  Zero and one.  The most basic form of information.  On or off.  Yes or no.  And if we build a language around this fundamental form of information, then we can have complex tasks and complex processes completed by a very simple gateway.  As we add more gateways, the ability to process tasks in parallel and faster is obtained. 

The human brain is just that.  Think of it as a warehouse full of the most powerful supercomputers all networked together to act as one computer.  So the trillions of gateways on the millions of chips that are inside of these thousands of computers, are all acting so solve a series of commands or tasks. 

Your brain does this without any effort.  To get the virtual world to do this is the task that we have embarked on the moment we started to evolve our computer technology.  The problem lies in this part: getting the organic gateways or our brains (neurons) to connect and interact with the inorganic silicone gateways of a computer (the microchip).

Well a part of the process is resolved and this opens the doors for a steady progression to a virtual presence of the human brain.  The question has been asked since the beginning of time... who are we?  Are we spirits living in organic bodies or are we just a sum total of action potentials between the neurons of our brains that give us the illusion of being ‘somebody’.  This advancement will definitely take humanity to the threshold of this answer.

Just as computer technology advanced at astronomical rates compared to all of the prior human achievements (to understand this, look at how far computer science has come in such a short time, compared to medicine in such a long time), the advancements that will come from this new interface between man and machine will also rocket forward.

If 30 years ago (just put yourself there for a second) I asked you to imagine a 3 x 5 thin piece of plastic that will connect you to anyone else in the world wirelessly via voice, text, video and at the same time give you on demand access to the entire human catalog of information (theoretically Wikipedia), locate you anywhere in the world (via GPS), give you access to real time navigation with STREET VIEW maps, etc. etc... You would call me crazy!  But look at the iPhone and you will see that this creation from one of the creators of computers is just that.

So with this progression being a sure thing, imagine if we had the ability to scan and record all the neuronal connections of your brain and then recreate that in digital form in a computer.  Would you have a consciousness in the machine?  These are questions that will be answered with the new developments we have made.  As they evolve, these technologies will open doors that will lead to answering some of philosophy’s most difficult questions. 

It’s also highly probable that in the not so distant future,  you will be able to go to your local electronics retailer and buy a memory chip.  Except this chip is meant to be implanted into your brain.  An outside interface with this chip will then let you connect to the cloud (the internet) and download any topic you wanted to learn... let’s say biology, and now you have the complete textbook of biology uploaded into your chip.  Access to knowledge databases like Wikipedia will give everyone access to the collective information of our time... without any effort. 

I find this to be astounding... and at the same time, ironic.  I sum up the sum total of all the efforts of humanity with one word.  Lazy.  We are lazy creatures.  We work when we have to, but would rather not.  So over time, we have used our great evolutionary gift (tool making) to develop solutions to our work for us.  We have worked to create cars, plows, washing machines, cooking machines, industrial farms, clothing manufacturers, food processors, restaurants, and almost every other aspect of our modern world, is there to reduce our workload.  At a lecture by Paul Roberts, he started his talk by commenting on the sum of humanity as the search for “cheap calories”.  Cheap calories, meaning food you didn’t have to work hard for.  Food that is available on demand. 

Think about this folks.  The very fundamental values of our society support the ideals of minimal ACTUAL work.  We work, but in fruitless ways of retail, and consumerism.  Real work is growing food, cultivating communities, healing people, putting out fires, teaching children, contributing to science. But our modern world values something else.

So to solve my riddle, I’ll explain what I find ironic... the fact that our of our laziness, we have created something, that just might save us from our doomed future.  Conquering the final boundary of work, we are close to a solution to having to learn information.  Learning a subject will mimic downloading and MP3 to your iPod.  This will allow for millions of people to have access to information that the greatest human creation, the internet, provides.  If people have access to information and knowledge, things might change. 

Education is everything.  Everyone should have the opportunity to get a free education.

Science is the understanding of the intrinsic and automatic mechanisms of everything.  Solving problems based on logic, and pure reasoning.   As we develop a new appreciation for our world through science, explanations that once kept our consciousness away from the truth, (such as the Gods carried the Sun across the sky in their chariots) are being replaced by the reality behind reality.

Knowing ourselves and who we are, will open the doors to finally living the way we were intended to live in this symphony some call Nature.  It will take science to get us there.  Our society has deviated so far from the internal path to this truth, that science is our only hope at this point.