"Competition is an inescapable occurrence in the animate and even in the inanimate universe. To give our minds the flexibility to transfer and to operate in different substrates bestows upon our species the most important competitive advantage."

I am a neuroscientist and neuroengineer presently participating in the ambitious and fascinating efforts of the well-funded nanotechnology startup Halcyon Molecular (http://halcyonmolecular.com) in Silicon Valley, and I head the organization carboncopies.org (http://carboncopies.org), which is the outreach and roadmapping organization for the development of substrate-independent minds (SIM). The Wikipedia page about me and my work (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randal_A._Koene) is not a bad place to start if you want to know more about me.

Between 2008 and 2010, I lived on the border of France and Spain, while I was director of the Department of Neuroengineering at Tecnalia, the third largest private research organization in Europe. I have