Copyright © 2014 by Michio Kaku
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Random House, LLC, New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, Penguin Random House companies.
www.doubleday.com
DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Random House, LLC.
Illustrations by Jeffrey L. Ward
Jacket design by Michael J. Windsor
Jacket illustration © CLIPAREA/Custom media/Shutterstock
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Kaku, Michio.
The future of the mind : the scientific quest to understand, enhance, and empower the mind / Dr. Michio Kaku, professor of Theoretical Physics, City University of New York. — First edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Neuropsychology. 2. Mind and body—Research.
3. Brain—Mathematical models. 4. Cognitive neuroscience.
5. Brain-computer interfaces. I. Title.
QP360.K325 2014
612.8—dc23
2013017338
ISBN 978-0-385-53082-8 (hardcover) ISBN 978-0-385-53083-5 (eBook)
v3.1
This book is dedicated to my loving wife, Shizue,
and my daughters, Michelle and Alyson
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
BOOK I: THE MIND AND CONSCIOUSNESS 1 UNLOCKING THE MIND
2 CONSCIOUSNESS—A PHYSICIST’S VIEWPOINT
BOOK II: MIND OVER MATTER 3 TELEPATHY: A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
4 TELEKINESIS: MIND CONTROLLING MATTER
5 MEMORIES AND THOUGHTS MADE TO ORDER
6 EINSTEIN’S BRAIN AND ENHANCING OUR INTELLIGENCE
BOOK III: ALTERED CONSCIOUSNESS 7 IN YOUR DREAMS
8 CAN THE MIND BE CONTROLLED?
9 ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
10 THE ARTIFICIAL MIND AND SILICON CONSCIOUSNESS
11 REVERSE ENGINEERING THE BRAIN
12 THE FUTURE: MIND BEYOND MATTER
13 THE MIND AS PURE ENERGY
14 THE ALIEN MIND
15 CONCLUDING REMARKS
APPENDIX: QUANTUM CONSCIOUSNESS?
NOTES
SUGGESTED READING
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
A Note About the Author
Other Books by This Author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It has been my great pleasure to have interviewed and interacted with the following prominent scientists, all of them leaders in their fields. I would like to thank them for graciously giving up their time for interviews and discussions about the future of science. They have given me guidance and inspiration, as well as a firm foundation in their respective fields.
I would like to thank these pioneers and trailblazers, especially those who have agreed to appear on my TV specials for the BBC, Discovery, and Science TV channels, and also on my national radio shows, Science Fantastic and Explorations.
Peter Doherty, Nobel laureate, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Gerald Edelman, Nobel laureate, Scripps Research Institute
Leon Lederman, Nobel laureate, Illinois Institute of Technology
Murray Gell-Mann, Nobel laureate, Santa Fe Institute and Cal Tech
the late Henry Kendall, Nobel laureate, MIT
Walter Gilbert, Nobel laureate, Harvard University
David Gross, Nobel laureate, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
Joseph Rotblat, Nobel laureate, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital
Yoichiro Nambu, Nobel laureate, University of Chicago
Steven Weinberg, Nobel laureate, University of Texas at Austin
Frank Wilczek, Nobel laureate, MIT
. . .
Amir Aczel, author of Uranium Wars
Buzz Aldrin, NASA astronaut, second man to walk on the moon
Geoff Andersen, U.S. Air Force Academy, author of The Telescope
Jay Barbree, author of Moon Shot
John Barrow, physicist, Cambridge University, author of Impossibility
Marcia Bartusiak, author of Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony
Jim Bell, Cornell University astronomer
Jeffrey Bennet, author of Beyond UFOs
Bob Berman, astronomer, author The Secrets of the Night Sky
Leslie Biesecker, National Institutes of Health
Piers Bizony, author of How to Build Your Own Starship
Michael Blaese, National Institutes of Health
Alex Boese, founder of Museum of Hoaxes
Nick Bostrom, transhumanist, Oxford University
Lt. Col. Robert Bowman, Institute for Space and Security Studies
Cynthia Breazeal, artificial intelligence, MIT Media Lab
Lawrence Brody, National Institutes of Health
Rodney Brooks, director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute
Michael Brown, astronomer, Cal Tech
James Canton, author of The Extreme Future
Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania
Fritjof Capra, author of The Science of Leonardo
Sean Carroll, cosmologist, Cal Tech
Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon
Leroy Chiao, NASA astronaut
Eric Chivian, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Deepak Chopra, author of Super Brain
George Church, director of Harvard’s Center for Computational Genetics
Thomas Cochran, physicist, Natural Resources Defense Council
Christopher Cokinos, astronomer, author of Fallen Sky
Francis Collins, National Institutes of Health
Vicki Colvin, nanotechnologist, University of Texas
Neal Comins, author of Hazards of Space Travel
Steve Cook, NASA spokesperson
Christine Cosgrove, author of Normal at Any Cost
Steve Cousins, CEO of Willow Garage Personal Robots Program
Phillip Coyle, former assistant secretary of defense for the U.S. Defense Department
Daniel Crevier, AI, CEO of Coreco
Ken Croswell, astronomer, author of Magnificent Universe
Steven Cummer, computer science, Duke University
Mark Cutkowsky, mechanical engineering, Stanford University
Paul Davies, physicist, author of Superforce
Daniel Dennet, philosopher, Tufts University
the late Michael Dertouzos, computer science, MIT
Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winner, UCLA
Marriot DiChristina, Scientific American
Peter Dilworth, MIT AI Lab
John Donoghue, creator of Braingate, Brown University
Ann Druyan, widow of Carl Sagan, Cosmos Studios
Freeman Dyson, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University
David Eagleman, neuroscientist, Baylor College of Medicine
John Ellis, CERN physicist
Paul Erlich, environmentalist, Stanford University
Daniel Fairbanks, author of Relics of Eden
Timothy Ferris, University of California, author of Coming of Age in the Milky Way Galaxy
Maria Finitzo, stem cell expert, Peabody Award winner
Robert Finkelstein, AI expert
Christopher Flavin, World Watch Institute
Louis Friedman, cofounder of the Planetary Society
Jack Gallant, neuroscientist, University of California at Berkeley
James Garwin, NASA c
hief scientist
Evelyn Gates, author of Einstein’s Telescope
Michael Gazzaniga, neurologist, University of California at Santa Barbara
Jack Geiger, cofounder, Physicians for Social Responsibility
David Gelertner, computer scientist, Yale University, University of California
Neal Gershenfeld, MIT Media Lab
Daniel Gilbert, psychologist, Harvard University
Paul Gilster, author of Centauri Dreams
Rebecca Goldberg, Environmental Defense Fund
Don Goldsmith, astronomer, author of Runaway Universe
David Goodstein, assistant provost of Cal Tech
J. Richard Gott III, Princeton University, author of Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe
Late Stephen Jay Gould, biologist, Harvard University
Ambassador Thomas Graham, spy satellites and intelligence gathering
John Grant, author of Corrupted Science
Eric Green, National Institutes of Health
Ronald Green, author of Babies by Design
Brian Greene, Columbia University, author of The Elegant Universe
Alan Guth, physicist, MIT, author of The Inflationary Universe
William Hanson, author of The Edge of Medicine
Leonard Hayflick, University of California at San Francisco Medical School
Donald Hillebrand, Argonne National Labs, future of the car
Frank N. von Hippel, physicist, Princeton University
Allan Hobson, psychiatrist, Harvard University
Jeffrey Hoffman, NASA astronaut, MIT
Douglas Hofstadter, Pulitzer Prize winner, Indiana University, author of Gödel, Escher, Bach
John Horgan, Stevens Institute of Technology, author of The End of Science
Jamie Hyneman, host of MythBusters
Chris Impey, astronomer, author of The Living Cosmos
Robert Irie, AI Lab, MIT
P. J. Jacobowitz, PC magazine
Jay Jaroslav, MIT AI Lab
Donald Johanson, anthropologist, discoverer of Lucy
George Johnson, New York Times science journalist
Tom Jones, NASA astronaut
Steve Kates, astronomer
Jack Kessler, stem cell expert, Peabody Award winner
Robert Kirshner, astronomer, Harvard University
Kris Koenig, astronomer
Lawrence Krauss, Arizona State University, author of Physics of Star Trek
Lawrence Kuhn, filmmaker and philosopher, Closer to Truth
Ray Kurzweil, inventor, author of The Age of Spiritual Machines
Robert Lanza, biotechnology, Advanced Cell Technologies
Roger Launius, author of Robots in Space
Stan Lee, creator of Marvel Comics and Spider-Man
Michael Lemonick, senior science editor of Time
Arthur Lerner-Lam, geologist, volcanist
Simon LeVay, author of When Science Goes Wrong
John Lewis, astronomer, University of Arizona
Alan Lightman, MIT, author of Einstein’s Dreams
George Linehan, author of Space One
Seth Lloyd, MIT, author of Programming the Universe
Werner R. Loewenstein, former director of Cell Physics Laboratory, Columbia University
Joseph Lykken, physicist, Fermi National Laboratory
Pattie Maes, MIT Media Lab
Robert Mann, author of Forensic Detective
Michael Paul Mason, author of Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath
Patrick McCray, author of Keep Watching the Skies
Glenn McGee, author of The Perfect Baby
James McLurkin, MIT, AI Lab
Paul McMillan, director of Space Watch
Fulvia Melia, astronomer, University of Arizona
William Meller, author of Evolution Rx
Paul Meltzer, National Institutes of Health
Marvin Minsky, MIT, author of The Society of Minds
Hans Moravec, author of Robot
Late Phillip Morrison, physicist, MIT
Richard Muller, astrophysicist, University of California at Berkeley
David Nahamoo, IBM Human Language Technology
Christina Neal, volcanist
Miguel Nicolelis, neuroscientist, Duke University
Shinji Nishimoto, neurologist, University of California at Berkeley
Michael Novacek, American Museum of Natural History
Michael Oppenheimer, environmentalist, Princeton University
Dean Ornish, cancer and heart disease specialist
Peter Palese, virologist, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Charles Pellerin, NASA official
Sidney Perkowitz, author of Hollywood Science
John Pike, GlobalSecurity.org
Jena Pincott, author of Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?
Steven Pinker, psychologist, Harvard University
Thomas Poggio, MIT, artificial intelligence
Correy Powell, editor of Discover magazine
John Powell, founder of JP Aerospace
Richard Preston, author of Hot Zone and Demon in the Freezer
Raman Prinja, astronomer, University College London
David Quammen, evolutionary biologist, author of The Reluctant Mr. Darwin
Katherine Ramsland, forensic scientist
Lisa Randall, Harvard University, author of Warped Passages
Sir Martin Rees, Royal Astronomer of Great Britain, Cambridge University, author of Before the Beginning
Jeremy Rifkin, Foundation for Economic Trends
David Riquier, MIT Media Lab
Jane Rissler, Union of Concerned Scientists
Steven Rosenberg, National Institutes of Health
Oliver Sacks, neurologist, Columbia University
Paul Saffo, futurist, Institute of the Future
Late Carl Sagan, Cornell University, author of Cosmos
Nick Sagan, coauthor of You Call This the Future?
Michael H. Salamon, NASA’s Beyond Einstein program
Adam Savage, host of MythBusters
Peter Schwartz, futurist, founder of Global Business Network
Michael Shermer, founder of Skeptic Society and Skeptic magazine
Donna Shirley, NASA Mars program
Seth Shostak, SETI Institute
Neil Shubin, author of Your Inner Fish
Paul Shurch, SETI League
Peter Singer, author of Wired for War
Simon Singh, author of The Big Bang
Gary Small, author of iBrain
Paul Spudis, author of Odyssey Moon Limited
Stephen Squyres, astronomer, Cornell University
Paul Steinhardt, Princeton University, author of Endless Universe
Jack Stern, stem cell surgeon
Gregory Stock, UCLA, author of Redesigning Humans
Richard Stone, author of NEOs and Tunguska
Brian Sullivan, Hayden Planetarium
Leonard Susskind, physicist, Stanford University
Daniel Tammet, author of Born on a Blue Day
Geoffrey Taylor, physicist, University of Melbourne
Late Ted Taylor, designer of U.S. nuclear warheads
Max Tegmark, cosmologist, MIT
Alvin Toffler, author of The Third Wave
Patrick Tucker, World Future Society
Chris Turney, University of Wollongong, author of Ice, Mud and Blood
Neil de Grasse Tyson, director of Hayden Planetarium
Sesh Velamoor, Foundation for the Future
Robert Wallace, author of Spycraft
Kevin Warwick, human cyborgs, University of Reading, UK
Fred Watson, astronomer, author of Stargazer
Late Mark Weiser, Xerox PARC
Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us
Daniel Wertheimer, SETI at Home, University of California at Berkeley
Mike Wessler, MIT AI Lab
Roger Wiens, astronomer, Los Alamos National Laboratory
; Author Wiggins, author of The Joy of Physics
Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, National Institutes of Health
Carl Zimmer, biologist, author of Evolution
Robert Zimmerman, author of Leaving Earth
Robert Zubrin, founder of Mars Society
I would also like to thank my agent, Stuart Krichevsky, who has been at my side all these years and has given me helpful advice about my books. I have always benefited from his sound judgment. In addition, I would like to thank my editors, Edward Kastenmeier and Melissa Danaczko, who have guided my book and provided invaluable editorial advice. And I would like to thank Dr. Michelle Kaku, my daughter and a neurology resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, for stimulating, thoughtful, and fruitful discussions about the future of neurology. Her careful and thorough reading of the manuscript has greatly enhanced the presentation and content of this book.
INTRODUCTION
The two greatest mysteries in all of nature are the mind and the universe. With our vast technology, we have been able to photograph galaxies billions of light-years away, manipulate the genes that control life, and probe the inner sanctum of the atom, but the mind and the universe still elude and tantalize us. They are the most mysterious and fascinating frontiers known to science.
If you want to appreciate the majesty of the universe, just turn your gaze to the heavens at night, ablaze with billions of stars. Ever since our ancestors first gasped at the splendor of the starry sky, we have puzzled over these eternal questions: Where did it all come from? What does it all mean?
To witness the mystery of our mind, all we have to do is stare at ourselves in the mirror and wonder, What lurks behind our eyes? This raises haunting questions like: Do we have a soul? What happens to us after we die? Who am “I” anyway? And most important, this brings us to the ultimate question: Where do we fit into this great cosmic scheme? As the great Victorian biologist Thomas Huxley once said, “The question of all questions for humanity, the problem which lies behind all others and is more interesting than any of them, is that of the determination of man’s place in Nature and his relation to the Cosmos.”
There are 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, roughly the same as the number of neurons in our brain. You may have to travel twenty-four trillion miles, to the first star outside our solar system, to find an object as complex as what is sitting on your shoulders. The mind and the universe pose the greatest scientific challenge of all, but they also share a curious relationship. On one hand they are polar opposites. One is concerned with the vastness of outer space, where we encounter strange denizens like black holes, exploding stars, and colliding galaxies. The other is concerned with inner space, where we find our most intimate and private hopes and desires. The mind is no farther than our next thought, yet we are often clueless when asked to articulate and explain it.