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<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 2:59 AM, Samantha Atkins <<A onclick="Popup.composeWindow('pcompose.php?sendto=sjatkins%40mac.com');; return false;" href="mailto:sjatkins@mac.com" target=_blank><a href="mailto:sjatkins@mac.com">sjatkins@mac.com</a></A>> wrote:<BR>
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<DIV class=Ih2E3d>Kevin Freels wrote:<BR>> I am sure that in a far distant future, perhaps thousands or even<BR>> hundreds of thousands of years after I am brought back from suspension,<BR>> we will find a way to peer back in time and recapture his information<BR>> state at the time of his death and "resurrect" him.<BR></DIV>
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<div>John Grigg wrote:</div>
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<div>You must be speaking very loosely as you have no way to be sure of what<BR>is and is not possible in this regard consistent with whatever turn out<BR>to be inviolate laws of physics. Thus this is no better than any other<BR>resurrection mythological belief wheeled out to give some (very thin<BR>when you examine it) comfort to the bereaved. Methinks we will take<BR>ending aging and mandatory death much more seriously when we stop coming<BR>up with such myths and beliefs.</div>
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<div>Kevin Freels wrote:</div>
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<div>Loosely of course. And combined with wishful thinking. It's not as if this is some serious hypothesis I generated. It's a human goal based on limited information. Have you become so ingrained in this kind of thinking as to have lost your humanity? It IS better than mythological resurrection beliefs however because it includes one critical differentiator - possibility. </div>
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<div>I understand your argument. As long as people think that death can be conquered by resurrection in the future, no one will bother trying to conquer death in the first place. But your argument is flawed. History and human nature are against you. The evidence to the contrary is all around you. Tons of money, time and effort are constantly going into medical research, procedures, surgeries, treatments, etc all in the attempt to extend life. Even the most faithful xians will spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars on a low probability attempt to extend life just a few years when faced with an illness that will certainly kill them in a shorter time period. (fundamentalists who represent a very small portion aside). Cars are constantly having their safety requirements upgraded. Everything is always being made safer. People - especially xians are very protective of their gun ownership rights and the right to be able to protect themselves. Self-preservation rules. Fear sells. This is despite a huge proportion of the population having a belief in an afterlife. Only a few extremists are willing to martyr themselves for the expectation of an afterlife. The rest are quite normal in their desire to live as long as possible as long as they can remain healthy. <BR></div>
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