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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>…</b>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat<br><b>>…Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] Where is the new space odyssey epic?<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>>…<span style='color:black'>How big does a brain have to be to function at the level we now enjoy</span>?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>We don’t really know Billw. Read on please.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>>…<span style='color:black'>Just saying, if we get much smaller we won't think the way we do now, and perhaps cannot enjoy the experience of being like bacteria or even mussels</span>….<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>Ja, you might be right professor, and you did include “Just saying†but you must drop the g in order to make it a valid vague speculation, for otherwise it overreaches a bit. You are from the south, me lad, you know the rules on that ‘just sayin’ saying: when saying ‘just saying’ one must say ‘just sayin.’ Otherwise, supporting evidence is required. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>>…<span style='color:black'>Of course this segues into a discussion of how far down the phylogenetic scale consciousness goes. Very far down, I say, but not like human consciousness. bill </span>w<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>Billw, how do we know? You know about brains, so you know a lot of that gelatinous glob is redundant circuitry, with lots of icky blood and revolting gore in there, the kind you see on zombie movies, and a lot of it does mundane life-support stuff such as walking, breathing, and of course…that… cool, fun stuff, rather than thinking and feeling, ja? You know the brain is made of jillions of big old squishy “cells†which might be simulated by electronic circuitry 4 orders of magnitude smaller, ja? Do clarify your contention please sir.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div></div></body></html>