X-Message-Number: 4406 Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 14:46:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Charles Platt <> Subject: Relevance Eugen Leitl writes: "Good grief, what has the bloody internet to do with uploading?" Wrong question. The real question I think is, "what has bloody uploading got to do with cryonics?" Uploading is a subject that interests me greatly. I have written a whole book based around the topic. I am also very aware however that there is a slim chance, at best, of it becoming feasible within the next fifty or so years. (Please let us not have a debate now on just how slim the chance may be.) In short, uploading is unlikely to save the lives of many people reading this, and not much can be done, right now, to bring it about. Cryonics, on the other hand, has at least some chance of saving lines and is available right now. Therefore, it seems obvious to me that it is in our own interests to concentrate on the real option and leave the theoretical option till later, especially since there are many people working in computer science but hardly any in cryonics. There is a lot of work to be done in cryonics before it will become remotely reliable. Research, fund raising, public relations, and signups are the obvious areas that come to mind. When you remember how few people are working actively in cryonics, you realize that the amount of energy that has been devoted here to the fascinating subjects of identity, neural nets, and uploading could have made a tangible difference if it had been directed instead toward cryonics. Of course, people should be free to discuss anything they like, and use their time in whatever way suits them. I'm just putting forward my opinion. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=4406