[extropy-chat] Re: Suda et al papers (was Cryonics without comprehensive brain disassembly?-No)

[Hal Finney]

Something else bothered me about Ralph Merkle's paper,
http://www.merkle.com/cryo/techFeas.html.

Robert Bradbury had mentioned it as a citation for "cryonics without
comprehensive brain disassembly".  In fact, however, the paper mostly
discusses what Merkle calls "off-board" repair, meaning repair where
the brain is disassembled and then reassembled, as distinguished from
"on-board" repair, which is repairing the brain in place.

Merkle writes, "The on-board repair scenario has been considered in
some detail by Drexler[18]. We will give a brief outline of the on-board
repair scenario here, but will not consider it in any depth."  Okay,
so what we really need as a citation for brain repair without disassembly
is reference 18.  Let's look it up.

"18. Eric Drexler, private communication."

That's right.  The reference for on-board repair, which has been
"considered in some detail", is an unpublished private communication.
This makes it useless from the point of view of a reader wanting to get
a better handle on the topic of Ralph's paper, "The Molecular Repair of
the Brain."

Now, Ralph's paper was from way back in 1994.  Has Drexler published
anything subsequently to describe this detailed plan for on-board repair
that Merkle references?

Hal