X-Message-Number: 13416 Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 05:59:52 -0500 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: CryoNet #13411 - #13412 Hi everyone: Since the Morevec-Kurzweil conference seems to be attracting some attention here, I have decided to put in my own 2 cents. I reviewed Kurzweil's book and found that it totally omitted any discussion of one major ability which humans have and which will not come with intelligence alone. It's called "desires", and no matter how intelligent (whatever reasonable definition of intelligence you wish here) a computer or device may become, without its own desires it remains a useful slave at best. I have not reviewed Moravec's most recent book, but he too seems to think that the main problem in substituting a computer for a person is to make one intelligent enough. (My review of Kurzweil was in CRYONICS). I will also point out that considerable work is now underway to make neurons regrow. Neurons in the spinal cord are likely to come to that point some time before we start repairing brains. This form of repair looks to me like one that will ultimately work much better than any current electrical device... basically because our electrical devices will need to imitate neurons, which makes their construction complex. Yes, growing new connections in spinal cord has already been done, with some success. And what will we attach to ourselves and use in the future? That is the most interesting question of all. I myself think that computers in the current sense will look far too primitive to provide additions to ourselves, but that does not exclude other much more advanced additions at all. Best and long long life to all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=13416