X-Message-Number: 21024
From: 
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 11:10:56 EST
Subject: succinctly

--part1_2f.3429d74c.2b6bfa10_boundary
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I haven't read the last few days of Cryonet, but I have received a few 
private letters and I seem to have failed to keep the focus on the three main 
issues. I think I can make it succinct:

1. PHYSICS. Michael Price and his apparently dominant school claim not just 
that (say) two electrons are identical, but that ANY two or more systems in 
the same quantum state are identical. They could even be people or planets.

This means that, if you can describe the quantum state of a system according 
to current ideas, then EVERYTHING about the system that can possibly be known 
is already known. This is patently absurd in historical context, and not even 
plausible, let alone proven. 

2. LANGUAGE. Even if two or more systems are intrinsically identical (no 
internal structure to differentiate one from another of the same species), 
that does not justify saying that a thing can be in more than one place at 
the same time. It causes confusion without being useful. 

3. SURVIVAL. The problem of survival criteria, or "identity" of persons, is 
separate and distinct from both of the above. My tentative suggestions 
involve the necessity of a person binding space and time. You overlap your 
physical predecessors and continuers in both space and time, which concerns 
you, while you may be physically and psychologically remote from hypothetical 
duplicates.

Robert Ettinger

--part1_2f.3429d74c.2b6bfa10_boundary

 Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"

[ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] 

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21024