Thus began the Nuclear Age - you could also call it the Age of Fear. Nuclear weapons, electronics, computers. From then on, scientific research progressed at an exponential rate. Moreover, computing power increased with great strides, quality of life soared. Automobiles, televisions, hi-fis, telephones all improved our lives. Long range bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, neutron bombs and cruise missiles were all designed to destroy others.

Throughout history, science and technology have proved to be a see-saw of sorts, with the ups and downs, benefits and disadvantages, increasing with time. Today, our quality of life in first-world countries is comparatively excellent - life expectancy is high, general affluence is high, entertainment is readily available. But also we live with the terrible, ever present knowledge that one skirmish, one conflict, one mistake, could destroy the delicate balance of the see-saw and our weapon

Along with the price, there is also hope that we can get off the see-saw. In recent years, there has been a new, relatively unpredicted, trend - the rapid increase in international communications via the Internet. The Internet is merely the precursor of a far greater socio-economic paradigm shift. Already, computing and communications technology have advanced to the point that we can converse with anyone else across the world - we are no longer reliant on media-disseminated information - we can judge for ourselves who the true oppressed and oppressors are. Even if we cannot empathise with foreigners, at least we can talk to them.

They would say that we would lose our individuality and society would become homogenised. As for losing our individuality, on the contrary, we are expanding it. There is a difference between homogenisation and communication, and it is easy to mistake understanding and empathy for the former. We have nothing to lose, but everything to gain with artificial telepathy, for what greater beauty is there than to be able to touch another soul?

A mind-machine interface, or a direct brain link, is not merely science fiction. Last year researchers succeeded in interfacing a ??disabled/paralysed?? individual with a computer so that he could move an arrow about on a screen, allowing him to communicate when he could never have before. Admittedly, this is some way off from artificial telepathy, but it demonstrates the principles behind the idea - that we can control machines through thought.

A mind-machine interface, or a direct brain link, is not merely science fiction. Last year researchers succeeded in interfacing a ??disabled/paralysed?? individual with a computer so that he could move an arrow about on a screen, allowing him to communicate when he could never have before. Admittedly, this is some way off from artificial telepathy, but it demonstrates the principles behind the idea - that we can control machines through thought.

In Peter F. Hamilton's novella, A Second Chance at Eden, a scientist develops a method to create artificial telepathy, or 'affinity' in the 2058. The repercussions on society are tremendous; the workers in the habitat Eden, where affinity is first used participate in communal telepathy, letting others feel their emotions. Crime plummets and a harmony sets in. Children born with the affinity gene spliced in show completely balanced personalities as they open their minds to each other. One person says "This is Eden, only one step down from paradise."

Will this same situation occur in real life? Certainly it is not unrealistic, and we can imagine that many religions will have strong objections about artificial telepathy, and the promise of immortality that comes with it. Not only would there be religious objections, but moral objections. There will be those who cry out against artificial telepathy using brain implants - saying that we are losing our humanity, and becoming machines. This is not true. We would be in control of our brain implants as much as we are in control of our computers; they are tools to be used, not malevolent intelligences.

Nanotechnology is a controversial field - some argue that it is merely the realm of science fiction writers who use it as a poor plot device to create machines out of thin air. Others argue that the science fiction writers don't have enough imagination. Nanotechnlogy is basically the manipulation of matter on the atomic scale. Sounds ridiculous? Not really, as IBM researchers managed to spell out three letters (guess which ones) in individual atoms. That was several years ago. Active research into nanotechnology is being conducted at several university across the world, such as...

With artificial telepathy, we will be able to truly experience life in someone else's shoes, to truly see another person's viewpoint. We will be able to experience their emotions, to understand and empathise with them. The consequences of such a technology

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3241
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)