X-Message-Number: 21008
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 06:40:39 -0500
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: CryoNet #20999 - #21006

For James Swayze, more on perfection:

I'm hardly against the PURSUIT of perfection so long as we all 
realize, including the pursuer, that it is an unattainable goal.

And even just for our cells it's likely to be unattainable. Haven't
you noticed that as we come to understand more and more about how
the universe works, we see more and more ways in which things can
go wrong? For entropy if for no other reasons, if we start redesigning
our cells (that's already started, actually) then we can make any
of the 3 kinds of changes I discussed in my last message on 
"perfection".

For Michael Price about identity of particles:

It is not that we would somehow return to some former theory but
that we would find another better one. Already, as you know,
protons aren't thought of as single identities but as composed
of quarks. At least some have suggested an improvement on the
quark theory which leads to seeing electrons as composed entities
also. Or are they special features of a theory using 15 dimensions
of which all but 4 collapse tightly? I am pointing out that right
now we don't even know that our ideas on the identity of electrons
will survive when we work out how to combine relativity with 
quantum mechanics.

          Best wishes and long long life for all,

                Thomas Donaldson

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