[ExI] Essential Upload Data (was: Subject: Boltzmann brains)

John Clark johnkclark at gmail.com
Mon May 11 12:04:49 UTC 2020


On Mon, May 11, 2020 at 1:46 AM Rafal Smigrodzki via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> *### There is no innate physical difference between brain
> neurotransmitters and rest of the body hormones as a class. In fact, many
> neurotransmitters have dual CNS and peripheral actions.*
>

Exactly. And when you get down to it hormones are just a way to
transmit information, a very slow low bandwidth way.

> *### This would not be a problem for an upload. For those who wish it, an
> emulation of the body should be possible, if ruinously expensive,*
>

I have to disagree here. I don't think anybody is going to be revived until
the age of Nanotechnology has arrived, and when you have self reproducing
nanomachines almost everything we can think of today could be put into 2
categories, physically impossible and very cheap. If we really are
cryopreserved shortly after our deaths and if our brains really are
maintained at liquid nitrogen temperatures until the age of Nanotechnology
then I think we have a moderately good chance of not ending up in the
"physically impossible" category, so then the only remaining question would
be if Mr. Jupiter Brain thinks we're worth the effort. The fact that it
would be very cheap is encouraging, maybe we'd have some small nostalgic
value to the gentleman, or maybe he's just a nice guy. Or maybe not, I just
don't know, but I think it's worth a try.

> *### I am signed up for neuropreservation.*
>

Me too.

> *My attitude towards my own life (and in no way is this personal and
> idiosyncratic attitude to be taken as an opinion about how other people
> should approach their own lives), is that any physical structure that
> processes information in a manner sufficiently similar to me is actually
> me, and not some other agent.*
>

I have the same attitude but I think it's more than a idiosyncratic whim,
it's clearly in the direction that science shows. The only way we could be
wrong would be if it turned out the Bible Thumpers were right after all,
but I think that possibility is much too small to worry about.


> > *This means that there could be millions of me's and each and every one
> of me would see all of them as himself, just in other locations. I am
> willing to be quite liberal about the details of how this me-pattern is
> implemented,*
>

Yes, they'd all have the same past that you have right now with exactly the
same memories, but they would have different futures because they would be
put into different situations.

John K Clark
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