We could use more scientists who take the time to explore the future by way of fiction. Unfortunately most fiction is written by people who do not know much science. It is also unfortunate that many scientists (often physicists) do not know the difference between science fiction and hypothesis, and so will try to sell their fiction books as fact. Another unfortunate fact is that when scientists like Carl Sagan have published Science Fiction, they have been called flakes (and worse) by the thought police in the scientific establishment. The book, CONTACT by Carl Sagan does a nice job of exploring issues like life after death from the perspective of a scientist who is interested in objective evidence.
Two mind/brain issues that people have played with in the Hard Science Fiction format are: 1) down-loading consciousness into a computer, and 2) moving consciousness between bodies. On the first topic, Harrison&Minsky's "The Turing Option" and Hogan's "Realtime Interupt" are good examples. It would be nice to see a computer scientist colaborate with a neurobiologist to try to make a more realistic story about pulling a mind out of a brain. For the second topic, see Hogan's "Paths to Otherwhere". Hogan's "Otherwhere" is a good example of how a writer with a physical science background can talk to physicists and then spout a bunch of silly ideas about biology; still a fun story. Unfortunately we get the physical scientists' biased opinion that "evolution is impossible" and that consciousness is something waiting to be plucked from the brain like a tumor and that brains and/or DNA are quantum-uncertainty amplification systems, a la Penrose. Oh, well.
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