Koch notes that brain implants are already helping paralyzed people control computers and robots, and they are being investigated as treatments for depression and other mental disorders. Future implants could help us download huge amounts of information instantly, he claims, so we can learn “novel skills and facts without even trying.” Like Neo “learning” how to fly a helicopter in The Matrix!

“Another exciting prospect,” Koch says, is “melding two or more brains into a single conscious mind by direct neuron-to-neuron links.” Like The Borg in Star Trek! Koch urges a “crash program to design safe, inexpensive, reliable and long-lasting devices and procedures for manipulating brain processes inside their protective shell.”