X-Message-Number: 25521
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 18:25:05 -0800
From: Mathew Sullivan <>
Subject: Assumptions are a given

Thomas,

Boatloads of assumptions no doubt, which could go nowhere or in a different 
direction, so keep it in the realm of sci-fi for now.  I though I made 
myself obvious that this is in the realm of wishful thinking, and to be a 
bit more obvious, I don't intend to sell my earthly goods and hold my 
breath at the technological altar.  Carbon nanotubes and diamonds are made 
of the same thing, but the structural arrangement is different.  For 
simplicity's sake, substitute diamond fibers with nanotubes for structural 
reinforcement, but at that point it is watered down enough that it does not 
stimulate the imagination very much.  I thought I answered your question on 
wetware.  Maybe I should have phrased it as "vulnerable wetware."  Based on 
the upgrade scenarios for a brain you are interested in, could I remove the 
brain from the body, accelerate it by hundreds of miles per hour, and smash 
it against a steel block without any damage to the brain?  If the answer is 
yes, then I would say that we are in a similar camp.  If your answer is the 
brain would have to be reconstructed using last night's data backup stored 
someplace outside the solar system.  I would say that it is essential to 
have a backup, but still not robust enough for me.  Being critical about 
the feasibility of such a robust brain is easy to do, but until I have it 
for me, I don't anticipate being satisfied or content without a fully 
synchronized, distributed network of duplicates.

Ps. Over the years I've been asked about how we will deal with the need for 
new bodies for those who are head-only.  My response has been who knows how 
it will be exactly done?  Then I'll go through a couple scenarios and 
mention the tissue regeneration scene from the movie "The Fifth Element," 
while noting that memory is obviously not encoded throughout out our DNA as 
was the case in the movie.  (Clearly, there were assumptions taking place 
here.)  I used to be only half-serious when mentioning the movie - then I 
read the following article:

Press "print" for body parts
Jun 10th 2004
http://www.economist.com/science/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=2724491

This does not mean I'm convinced, but the regeneration scene in the movie 
does not look so far-fetched now.

Cheers,

Mathew Sullivan

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