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

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