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.

Were talking about basically an injury to the brain, in the form of a memory thats so traumatic it paralyzes you, says Michio Kaku in Episode 104 of the Geeks 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 whats 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 Geeks 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, theyre 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 dont have to fear the scenarios of science fiction where the Lex Luthors of the world take over. People with exceptional ability, they dont become politicians, they dont 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 theres 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:

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Futurist Says We'll Use Lasers to Beam Our Minds Into Space Someday Soon