Let’s talk science for a second. What I’m about to say may sound like science fiction (and is in fact a plot point in my own science fiction work in progress) but is on its way to becoming reality: by 2045, humanity may leave the physical body behind and achieve digital immortality by uploading minds to computers.

According to Ray Kurzweil, technology is on its way to surpassing human intelligence, creating machines smart enough to create machines smarter than them, and so on and so forth, until we’ve achieved a kind of universal superintelligence known as “the singularity.” Transhumanists like Kurzweil believe that when we reach that point, humans should be able to virtually upload their minds into computers, leaving their weak and squishy human bodies behind.

While that may sound preposterous to some, there have already been great improvements in the way of brain-computer interfaces (BCI), which are being used to help restore motor skills after one’s nervous system has been damaged, or command robotic limbs. There’s even work underway on adding BCIs to the brain’s memory center, turning memory into a digital signal to help those whose minds have been damaged and cannot convert short-term memories to long-term (think Drew Barrymore’s character from “50 First Dates”).

Eventually, that technology can reach the stage where it can digitize an entire brain, creating what United Therapeutics Corp. CEO Martine Rothblatt describes as “mindclones.” Essentially, it takes all the information in a person’s brain, everything that makes us who we are, and creates a “mindfile” copy, through which one can live even after death.

Naturally, there are ethical, moral and philosophical issues to be considered with these “mindclones.” The idea of still existing in a bodiless consciousness after the physical form has passed raises several questions, but Rothblatt believes that it still counts as being alive, and data is as good as a physical form.

Whether or not you believe this is a good thing, the concepts and ideas are fascinating. Technology is advancing at a rapid pace – doubling every two years, according to Moore’s law – and will eventually reach the point where it just constantly improves. When we reach the Singularity, what will humanity do? These are all questions to keep in mind, but the potential is practically limitless.