X-Message-Number: 26603 Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 11:26:02 -0700 Subject: Precedent Principle From: <> Robert wrote: > The Precedent Principle, as I used it, merely says that a > configuration of matter that once existed can potentially be > restored. In simple terms, a machine can be repaired or rebuilt > or reconstructed. Be careful with the use of the 're' words. 'Re' implies continuity-- -that the end product is in fact the original. Breaking every chemical bond in the planet Earth, and then 're'-assembling them, would not 're'-create the previously existing Earth. It would create a new Earth atomically identical to its predecessor. If you repair something that is still a brain, the end product is nothing less than the original brain. If you 'repair' something that cannot be called a brain, but from which you can infer a brain, then you create a new brain; such represents an invalid use of the word 'repair'. In this talk of plastination and chemical fixation, the only goal is to preserve the 'information' of the brain; i.e. to preserve enough so that it is possible to create an approximation of the original brain. These processes are no more useful to your survival than the existence of a toilet (or, as you might say, no more useful than a 'successor' of yourself who lived eons ago). Robert wrote: > It does mean that in some cases it is possible to repair something > even without knowing the cause(s) of deterioration or damage. I certainly agree with that. Richard B. Riddick Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26603