[ExI] [Extropolis] Crosspost

[Keith Henson]

On Fri, Apr 18, 2025 at 4:56 AM John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Apr 17, 2025 at 11:25 AM Lawrence Crowell <goldenfieldquaternions at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> > The issue about downloading minds into computers may be resolved by realizing that a scan of a brain and the mapping of brain states takes time. By the time you reconstruct a mind in a computer the original mind may have progressed beyond that point, so the reconstructed mind in the machine is effectively a different mind. I rather doubt these things will happen in a practical sense.

Minds are always changing, you are not exactly the same person in the
morning you were when you went to sleep.  So what?  At a practical
level, I don't think it is worth being concerned about.
>
> You're talking about fast non-destructive scanning of the brain and I'm not sure that's possible;  a slower destructive scanning is difficult but not impossible. The following is one possible scenario:

I don't have the slightest interest in a destructive brain scan.
That's like insisting that the original copy of a file be destroyed
when you make a copy.  Poor archival process, and not needed.  There
is no reason I can see why all the structures in a brain could not be
mapped out by infiltrating it with nanomachines.  If there is an
argument against this, I would like to know what it is.

Keith

> More cell damage occurs during the thawing process than the freezing process, and if ASC chemical fixation is used there is no brain shrinkage and the synaptic connection information is preserved; we know this because beautiful electron microscopic pictures have been taken of brain cells preserved in this way. Then the frozen brain could be disassembled from the outside in, one very thin layer at a time, and the information about where and how strong all the synaptic connections in that layer could be recorded, and then work could start on the next layer and you keep going until there is nothing left of the brain.  After all the information in all 10^14 synapses have been recorded that information is later translated into electronics and the uploading has been completed.
>
> OK OK I admit the above scenario may seem like a crazy fantasy but it should be remembered that, unlike perpetual motion or faster than light spaceships or traveling to the past, it does NOT need to invoke new science to become a reality, all it needs is improved engineering.
>
>> > I also doubt that ET beings create mega-structures or planet sized computers or brains.
>
>
> I too think ET is very unlikely.
>
>>
>> > If it does happen it might be in one out of a trillion galaxies. It will not be done by us. I suspect we will be off the Darwinian game table in the rather near future.
>
>
> I very much doubt biological humans will still be around a century from now and perhaps not a decade from now, but I have some hope that Mr. Jupiter Brain will have at least a little affection for us, after all He wouldn't exist except for us, so maybe He will give us access to a small (by His standards) server so that a few billion uploads can be run in a pleasant virtual world.
>
>   John K Clark    See what's on my new list at  Extropolis
> 5oo
>
>>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "extropolis" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to extropolis+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/extropolis/CAJPayv0T7BJaF%2BiL0ThMpT7BfFWs8zeGGK%3DW4dxBCDdeqrx7zQ%40mail.gmail.com.