Your Brain 2.0

Your Brain 2.0
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The latest prediction from Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve

Change is accelerating all around us, from technology to transportation, from medicine to marketing.

But the future frontier I'm totally fascinated with is the one inside us all.

It's the power of our minds, now being unlocked. Accelerated. Augmented.

When civilization started, power and aggression, fueled by pure testosterone, ruled. Now, multi-tasking, intense emotionality and imagination are becoming prized--and enhanced--as society shifts to more female-framed values, as part of the EVEolution trend.

Our minds are transforming to keep pace and fly into tomorrow.

Brace yourself. Here comes the realm of the re-engineered brain.

Memory Marketplace

DARPA, part of our Defense Department, has already invested $40 million in memory-creation research. And at MIT, researchers can now plant false remembrances in a mouse's brain.

In the years ahead, you'll be able to purchase customized recollections on the memory marketplace. Just because you haven't traveled out of the country doesn't mean you can't remember your trip to China. Didn't grow up in a happy home? The memory of a joyful family holiday is yours -- for a price.

With positive memories just a purchase away, fantasy and truth will collide. If we can create the past we wish we had, will our real-world experiences still matter?

Mood Morphing

Have you heard how scientists are using "brain pacemakers"--tiny electrical implants--to erase severe depression? We're about to enter a new tech era that's bad news for bad moods.

Imagine that our FitBits are embedded in our bodies, and can sense a stressful situation or upsetting encounter. Our implanted device will trigger a rush of calm-me-down brain chemicals. Or it will perfectly curate a better-mood cocoon. Had a tough day at work? Feeling low on energy? Your chip will cue up soothing videos, or tweak your home's lighting to give you a lift. Bye bye, Prozac: You're now obsolete.

Sleep Hacking

We won't lose eight hours a day to sleep anymore. The phrase "24/7" is about to become literal as our beds become docking stations where our bodies rest but our minds race. We'll separate the need for sleep from our subconscious--German scientists have already figured out how to induce lucid dreaming. Next, we'll be capable of productivity even when we're passed out. Expect MOOCs (massive online open communities) to flourish at night, offering courses that boost our brains. For those who want a true escape, film studios will team with lucid-dreaming experts to create bespoke dreams that resemble big-budget flicks.

Hyper-Sensory Stimulation

As our lives become more digital, we'll need to unplug from the monotony of screens and data streams. We'll seek extreme experiences that reconnect us with the most basic elements of our humanity: our senses.

We'll indulge in next-gen hallucinogens, synesthesia sessions in which our senses cross-pollinate, and other equally intense events. Separating the (wo)man from machine - and celebrating that difference--will be tomorrow's big business.

Want to learn more? Check out the full version of our predictions HERE

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