Having delved recently into science fiction, these past few days I have been exploring the possibilities of our own near future. What new things could we conceive of happening to us? One of the many ideas that have been going through my mind is the future of the computer.

A quantum computer does not yet exist, but when it does, it will revolutionize computing power forever. For the first time, we would face the possibility of a thinking machine, capable of its own autonomy. Artificial intelligence. Needless to say, this sort of technology could revolutionize our own brain matter.

Imagine, if you will, a developed brain-computer interface, which straps onto you prefrontal lobe (or wherever else it may suitably fit ). Now, imagine that this computer has wifi. Suddenly, your brain is an internet hub. It would take some getting used to, but you could access wikipedia with a simple thought.

It’s not a far stretch, considering that the computer has become more and more personalized as the years have gone by. What if they become so personal, they link up directly to your mind? This would take human communication, as well as the way we learn information, to a nearly magical level. Meeting one or two people from this new era, you might be convinced they were genius telepaths, when really they simply had better wifi than your macbook.

What would this do to information, schools, or knowledge in general? The traditional methods of learning would quickly be out the window. Most of your time thinking would also consist of browsing the web. Memorization would be easier, quicker, and less necessary (Index cards would certainly be a relic of past generations). Instead, you might spend most of your time doing. Children would spend some time rapidly learning information, and then a majority of school would be application. What once took years now would take a few months, if even.

If Google can personalize your computer these days, imagine what it could do with this brain chip? Search engines applied to this brain-computer interface. It could revolutionize education, instantly graphing charts of your thought patterns and mental clicks. It could tell you what you think of the most, and what you’ve learned to rapidly pick up on. Teachers of the future could easily direct you along your individual learning path with a simple search engine.

It would all come down to a bizarre and hopefully delicate balance of autonomy and hive-mind. We would all be part of the net, but completely personalized: just like now. The interface would change, but the applications would be something we would at least become familiar with over time. I find myself somewhat uncomfortable, yet truly amazed at the idea of “Google-Mind,” or a “iGoogle” with an entirely new meaning.

There are a few ideas, but I’ll save them for the next post.