Michio Kaku is one of my favorite theoretical physicists. The fact that I have a list of favorite theoretical physicists is either a.) sad or b.) awesome. I'll go with the latter. This book discusses the most powerful thing in the known universe: Your brain.
The book is broken into three sections and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that as a reader. Kaku is known for his research based analysis and most of this book centers on the what the future may hold for brain research. But the first portion lays the foundation in that it presents what is happening now in the field. It also gives a very pedestrian and quite thorough overview of how the brain itself works.
Then we get weird......
Part 2 of the book discusses telepathy, telekinesis, and the coolest part- memories. This is of particular note because of the topic of Alzheimer's. Implanting memories is something that you might read about in a dystopian novel, but Kaku argues (and the research is out there), that uploading memories could be something that is very real in the shockingly near future. I love this idea, especially when applied to information. I was (and still am) terrible at math. If you put a check on the table at a restaurant, it will take me an inordinate amount of time to calculate the tip. I try my best to understand the complicated math whilst reading about physics and quantum theory, but I missed the boat on the numbers game. Now imagine if you're struggling in a subject like I was with math. Wouldn't it be great to simply upload whatever you needed to learn? Ancient Greek philosophy? Biology? Any language?
HOWEVER, the idea that intrigues me is I could upload any information to my brain and have it stick as a memory. This could be applicable to any information in any subject. What does that mean for the future, though? Are we talking about turning the human mind into a computer? In a sense, it already is. The brain has, that we know of, a limitless amount of space and can store massive amounts of memory.
On the third and final front, Kaku blends the human mind with the universe. How might everything that he spoke to in parts 1 & 2 coalesce to alter our destiny. Could we use our mind to reach across the universe? What does the altered state of consciousness mean to the definition of reality as we see it? This book is a great read, but just a warning- you may have to devote some major time to it. It took me a while because of the subject matter and terminology.
So many questions....so much information....so many possibilities....so much suave hair
Look at that hair....LOOK AT IT!
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