“Because what makes us ourselves are the patterns of information that compose us, originally found in our DNA. That’s what NTI’s new technology does; it preserves the patterns of information while replacing our biological neurons with a silicon neural net. None of my essence has been lost. I’m going to live forever.”

The interviewer leaned forward, her brow furrowing. “But how do you know that your silicon brain will take the same path or make the same choices as your carbon-based one would have?”

Nichols shook his head. “I don’t. But neither did I know how my carbon-based brain would react to any given circumstance. Brains operate on quantum-level algorithms that are inherently unpredictable. Saying what a brain would have done is impossible. So it’s inaccurate to say I’m altering what would have been my future. That future never existed. What might have happened is only one of myriad possibilities. Even now with a silicon-based brain, there are too many quantum variables to say how I’ll respond. Having a silicon brain doesn’t make me less than human. Silicon brains aren’t programmed like a robot’s; they’re structured like carbon-based brains.”

Norby glanced down at her e-pad. “Other than the fact that it declines in later years, what’s wrong with the way the biological brain works?”

Nichols chuckled. “Well, that’s a substantial problem, don’t you think—the brain’s becoming diseased and dying? We have ameliorated that.

“But to get to your question, nothing is wrong with the way the brain works, assuming you are a hunter-gatherer circa 50,000 BCE. The brains we inherited are great at some things—facial recognition, for instance, a quite complex task that was once critical for survival. They’re lousy at other tasks, such as processing large amounts of financial information quickly, which our mastodon-hunting ancestors rarely had to do. The only way for us to transcend these limitations is to merge with technological intelligence. We all have neural implants already. Our new technology is simply the next step.”

Norby shifted in her seat. Sabin could tell she was enjoying this interaction, but she continued acting as devil’s advocate. “How could we meet the resource needs of an earth on which no one ever dies but new persons are constantly being added?”

Nichols smiled. “Your question presumes that everyone will have physical bodies. Once people’s brains are uploaded into computer substrates, I believe many will choose to live in virtual reality.”