"If at some point in the future we're able to upload our memories onto a chip, and they say that that will be possible in about 30 years," McGee says, "then if that chip were implanted in my clone, I could achieve a kind of immortality."

I watched Vanilla Sky the other night, which to my surprise was better than anticipated. (I actually had avoided seeing it since that Cameron Diaz gal has always freaked me out with her "Joker" like mouth.) Towards the end you realize that what the lead character interprets as a dream is really death with a artificial reality superimposed in his memory. Then I read this article about brain to computer interfacing today. It reminded me of a friend (who looked just like Jim Carey), a young guy in his 20's, whose nervous twitch developed in to total paralysis or as the article coined "Locked-in syndrome". In his case the disease rapidly accelerated and he was gone very quickly, however, before he left, he amazed his doctors, friends, and family with an incredible desire to live. He had asked to apply for a grant for retinal controlled computer, from Bill Gates. His goal was to write a book about his experience. And he wanted to live. No compliant over his "quality of living" or lack there of. He never received the grant but it changed my views. You have to read this article. It is long, but fruitfull.