Traditional communication is about to become a thing of the past. Letters, telephones, and the Internet are about to be replaced with technology so advanced that these functional communication devices will no longer be relevant. In fact, we won’t need any physical objects at all; we will communicate with our mind. Although this sounds like something from a good sci-fi movie, scientists are actually on the verge of this phenomenal breakthrough. They are calling it the World Wide Mind, or WWM.
It works by implanting a chip into a person’s brain and giving that chip the capability to communicate with a similar chip in another brain. They believe that when this technology is complete we will not only be able to “talk” to another person with our mind, but we will be able to send and receive images and sensations as well.
To help clarify this, think about the movie “Matrix.” In it, only minds exist; the physical body is kept in a holding cell outside of this world. And yet people communicate with one other; they smell, taste, hear, see and feel things as if their whole body were in the matrix with them.
The truth behind this bizarre scenario is that every sensation you have is stimulated by your brain. So, technically speaking, this futuristic mode of communication is possible. But I have to ask, what is the down side? It seems to me that being able to read someone else’s mind, or feel what they are feeling may not be as much fun as I once imagined.
Don’t get me wrong. It would be nice to know what my husband is thinking sometimes, but the reality is, I would rather not know, if it isn’t what I want to hear. I can not imagine hearing the thoughts of other people either. My in-laws, my sister, my best friend; who knows what goes through their heads sometimes? And what about people that I don’t even know. What if someone “calls the wrong brain”? It’s a scary thought.
It’s truly a remarkable thing what we can do with technology, but in the future, I think I will keep my thoughts to myself.