The idea of erasing and implanting memories is a common feature of science fiction films such as Total Recall and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Modern science can already erase and implant memories in rats, and in the future such techniques might be used on humans as well. Such experiments are the subject of the new book The Future of the Mind by famed physicist and futurist Michio Kaku. But one obstacle facing human trials is resistance from bioethicists, who argue that our memories make us who we are. Kaku rejects this idea when it comes to traumatic memories, such as soldiers suffering from PTSD.

“We’re talking about basically an injury to the brain, in the form of a memory that’s so traumatic it paralyzes you,” says Michio Kaku in Episode 104 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. “And I think this whole philosophy that we should be natural, that we should live with disease or live with traumatic memories, is taking things too far.”

Kaku is a lifelong science fiction fan whose books and TV shows often deal with the intersection of science and science fiction. He thinks science fiction is an important tool for expanding creativity and embracing possibilities, and he feels many bioethicists could benefit from reading more science fiction, which might help reduce their excessive attachment to the familiar.

“Science fiction is way past bioethicists, who are simply responding to what’s happening in laboratories today, not responding to what will happen in the laboratory a few decades from now,” says Kaku.

Listen to our complete interview with Michio Kaku in Episode 104 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (above). Then stick around after the interview as former co-host John Joseph Adams returns to the show to discuss his recent projects with his longtime agent Joe Monti and host David Barr Kirtley.

Michio Kaku on not fearing ‘super-brains’:

“In so many comic books and movies, we have the super-genius becoming the villain, like Lex Luthor. Or all the movies where you see super-brains take over the world. But we actually do have super-brains, they actually do exist, some of them are my friends, they’re Nobel Prize winners in theoretical physics, and their incomes are very low, a fraction of what Zuckerberg makes, the founder of Facebook. Having a super-brain does not suddenly make you a dictator of the world. So we don’t have to fear the scenarios of science fiction where the Lex Luthors of the world take over. People with exceptional ability, they don’t become politicians, they don’t become multi-millionaires, some of them just become professors like me, making a measly income.”

Michio Kaku on using lasers to project our minds into outer space:

“In the book I mention perhaps one of the greatest science fiction short stories, written by Isaac Asimov. His favorite science fiction story was way in the future when pure consciousness zips across the universe … And this is a possibility. If I have a CD-ROM with all the [neural] connections on a disk, I can put that on a laser beam, and I can shoot that into outer space at the speed of light … And then at the other end there’s a relay station which absorbs the laser beam and puts all these memories into a robot, and so you can then begin to feel, and live on another star system … So this idea was inspired by Isaac Asimov and other science fiction writers, but now we think it could be possible.”

Michio Kaku on how science fiction can help Chinese scientists:

“In Asia we have the expression ‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered down’ … And that in a nutshell typifies one of the major defects of the Asian educational system. There’s a program called CUSPEA which selects the top university students in physics and sends them to the United States … And I can see these Chinese physicists close up, and I realized that they’re very good at taking orders … But when you ask them to come up with a new idea, that’s where they get paralyzed … And so I think that the Asian system has to learn this, and science fiction has a definite role to play. Some of the greatest scientists of all time were inspired by science fiction.”

John Joseph Adams on the Women Destroy Science Fiction Kickstarter:

“Somebody posted this review, and it was really stupid, very dismissive of women, and more or less the review was saying, ‘I’m sick of women destroying science fiction with their girl cooties.’ … A lot of people online had seen that and were upset about it, so on Twitter my wife joked, ‘Hey ladies, I’m ready to destroy science fiction today. Who’s with me?’ … So I said, ‘What if we did a special issue of Lightspeed called ‘Women Destroy Science Fiction,’ and just really embraced that idea and turned it over entirely to the women of Lightspeed … We launched the Kickstarter and were only asking for $5,000, and we ended up with over $53,000 … On the last day of the Kickstarter we announced what we’re going to do in the future, so next year we’re going to do ‘Queers Destroy Science Fiction’ … You know, we’re going to keep doing it as long as people keep being idiots about this kind of stuff … If everyone became reasonable about human rights and respect for people, we wouldn’t have to do this kind of special issue.”

Joe Monti on science fiction and literary ghettos:

“The past couple years we’ve seen the success of imprints like William Morrow and Crown … You see these books coming from places that are not fantasy and science fiction homes, and I think there’s a value in that, but I think there’s also a statement, and that statement is that, ‘Yeah, this can be mainstream’ … I think in some ways, not all, the science fiction publishing industry has ghettoized itself and limited what its potential can be … I think a lot of it’s packaging, honestly … Take a look at a book like The Windup Girl. Initially it has this cover which is interesting, it’s got a giant mastodon going through Southeast Asia. It’s a weird juxtaposition, and OK, that could be attractive to some readers. But once Paolo [Bacigalupi] started getting all the awards and attention, and the Time magazine review that said ‘this is one of the ten best books of the year period,’ that should have been repackaged, and it never has been, and I think the book could have sold a lot more.”