[extropy-chat] Evidence for the self surviving brain disassembly? (was Altered genes let roundworms wiggle longer)

Robert J. Bradbury bradbury at aeiveos.com
Sun Mar 28 02:43:26 UTC 2004


Brett, I am going to make an argument that may be somewhat
in contrast to the perspective you seem to be operating from.

> Why shouldn't I be uncomfortable? I don't think of myself as merely
> what other people perceive me to be. What evidence is there that I
> or any homo sapiens can survive the complete disassembly of their
> brain?

I don't know -- I doubt we have the theoretical knowledge at this
point to make good arguments pro or con.  I think it may tend to
be both a transhumanist and extropic question -- "What do you
want to be?".

> So long as this question remains unanswered what separates
> cryonics (that posits that the self can survive the disassembly of
> the brain in which one currently experiences it) from religious
> systems that believe the same thing?  Isn't it a case of pick your
> belief-poison?

I would like to correct a misperception -- cryonics does *not*
strictly require the disassembly of the brain.  One is involved
in very complex biochemical processes as to how one reanimates
a brain.  Those may involve in turn the amount of damage that
were present or took place when a brain was suspended.

Sooo... using my original analogy you may (*or may not*) get
back your original atoms in their original structural form.
In my personal opinion (as per my discussions with Harvey)
you have a *really* difficult time proving that your "self"
today is the same as your "self" yesterday.

I do not know if a homo sapiens can survive the complete
dissassembly of their brain.  I would assume based on previous
experience that at least the first couple of times we are going
to get this wrong.  However I do have a reasonable confidence
in physics that *if* it is necessary and a brain disassembly
is required that a reasonably accurate brain reassembly may
be executed.  It may however take some time for humanity to make
this process work on a reliable basis.




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