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Recently I found two articles that really got me revved up for futurism — for the notion that I could do things in this lifetime which no one in history has ever done. For instance, there is an entreprenuer who is raising money for a civilian Mars expedition. Of course this Mars expedition is a one-way ticket. No turning back.

Mars One is a Dutch company that plans to hold a lottery to select 40 people for Mars training. These forty people will be reduced to ten after a three month training exercise in the dessert and in 2023 the last ten will go to Mars never to return.

Mars One Plans Suicide Mission to Mars

I have to admit a part of me wants to try out for this just because no human has ever been to Mars.  I’d play a role in setting up the first colony on Mars.  But another part of me realizes I just don’t have the personality for living long-term indoors or in a space suit, not to mention living for several years aboard a space craft just to get there!

Still, another part of me would love to go for it anyway.  How crazy is that?

The next bit of futurist madness I found on the web is the Immortal Avatar concept created by a Russian company offering immortality to billionaires.  They plan to interface the human brain with a robot since the brain can last much longer than the body can — perhaps as long as three hundred years.  Eventually, in time, they plan to emulate one’s consciousness to immortalize the client and turn their body into a holographic avatar.  I don’t quite get the last bit though.  A holographic version of the self?