X-Message-Number: 4249 Date: Wed, 19 Apr 95 13:06:34 From: mike <> Subject: resurrection, consciousness From: Mike Perry Subjects: resurrection, consciousness Keith Lynch (#4231) raises the issue of whether information is lost or not. ("Reverse determinism" is what I've called the point of view that it is *not* lost, i.e., that the past can be fully retrodicted from the present/future, which would be one way that resurrections of past individuals might happen.) Bob Ettinger (#4238) notes that I hold the view that revival or resurrection might be possible "in the context of the Many Worlds or Parallel Worlds view of quantum branching." I have written several articles on this subject for a newsletter I edit (*Venturist Monthly News*) which I'll send on request. Related, somewhat at least, to the idea of resurrection is the issue of consciousness; if a computer could *not* exhibit conscious behavior, then it would seem to preclude the idea of uploading or capturing a human personality in such an artificial device. (Another type of device would have to be invented.) On the other hand, if consciousness is an option, then, along with uploading, resurrection of a past person as a type of computer program becomes a possibility, and it is straightforward to think of a person as a message, i.e. a digital description could be created. (Actually it seems likely that a digital description will be possible even if computers along present-day lines turn out to be incapable of consciousness.) The problem of consciousness is probably one that will take a while to resolve. But something that might be of interest on these lines is a book written in the 1960s: *The Minds of Robots* by James T. Culbertson. I've had this book on my shelf for years intending to read it but putting it off; now I'm trying more earnestly. Quoting from the dust jacket: "Can robots have 'minds' like humans? "Yes, they can--in principle--according to the singularly original theory of consciousness presented in this ... book "This bold, completely physicalistic theory of consciousness or sense perception is certain to create debate ... In contrast to this new theory, the 'consciousness' produced by modern computers and devices is so insignificant that it might be compared to calling three or four grains of sand a 'beach.' "Dr. Culbertson attempts to show in detail how sense perception, memory images, and behavior can be produced synthetically ... "In presenting his physical theory of mental experience, Dr. Culbertson describes how the subjective phenomena of consciousness -- pain, sound, color, taste, smell, etc. -- can be constructed out of impulses passing through certain artificial components. He calls these components 'neurons,' and they resemble biological neurons in some ways." Perhaps someone has already worked through this book and can report. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=4249