X-Message-Number: 3550
From:  (Thomas Donaldson)
Subject: CRYONICS Re: Evolution of thinking
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 1994 10:27:46 -0800 (PST)

Greetings.

Although I've only just received it, my first reaction (as someone who has 
read and thought quite a lot about such things as what is essential to our
Selves, and what we absolutely must preserve in a suspension) I suspect that
the quoted article will turn out to be Nonsense.

First, no one claims that someone suspended as a neuropreservation patient
will be revived to awareness as a head alone. If nothing else, that would be
unnecessarily cruel. The issue is whether or not our body can be effectively
recreated. Once you have a body, even if you use your body in thinking, it
won't matter than you didn't have one when suspended.

Second, yes, our bodies do show the effects of our past history, not only in
scars but in the muscles which are developed versus those not. In that sense
they play a major role in our lives. These effects will naturally involve
effects on our brain, too: we will remember how we got the scars, and want to
follow all our old habits of walking etc that led to some muscles being 
developed more than others. But once revived in a new-grown body, one of two
things may happen: perhaps the nerve connections to our muscles will regrow 
on exactly the same path. Then we may feel a bit weakened but soon recover.
Alternatively, regrowth of a new body would involve quite different connections
to the same muscles (individual muscle cells are enervated by one nerve branch)
in which case we will simply have to relearn our coordination. Neither one of
these seems to me to be much of a problem.

(As I mentioned in a previous posting, extreme cases may justifiably choose
differently from others. If you were a ballet star, you may not want to put in
the work in learning to dance again with a new body. But that's not critical).

A lot of philosophy consists of theorizing about nonexistent issues. I suspect
strongly that this article will do the same. If David wants me to read it,
and sends it to me by mail (1037 S. Colonel Way, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019)
then I will read it and give my opinion based on a reading. But the fact that
a philosopher decides that our bodies are essential to our thinking doesn't 
really look relevant to me.

				Best and long long life,

				   Thomas Donaldson

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