X-Message-Number: 25285 Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 23:51:57 -0700 From: Mike Perry <> Subject: Multiple QEs Problem Richard said, "I told Mike I did think it was possible to cut the brain into some pieces of unknown number (but quite small---not millions of pieces, since a piece of such size would not be capable of experiencing qualia) and unknown shape (since the actual cuts may be important) and still preserve the QE." Let's suppose we separate a cryopreserved brain into just two pieces, each of which could function as a QE. Next, for the reanimation procedure, we assume repairs are done on each piece separately. These repairs, it turns out, further separate the brain matter into tiny pieces which cannot function as QEs. According to Richard's theory, this should be no problem so long as the two parts are repaired sequentially, since a QE is present at all times. But if they are repaired concurrently, there is a time when no QE is present, thus the patient dies, even though the end result, an apparently intact and healthy patient like the original, is the same either way. With due respects, I find this kind of argument hard to take seriously. Or put another way, whatever would be lost by the hypothesized concurrency just doesn't seem important, in any verifiable sense. Mike Perry Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=25285