X-Message-Number: 8127
Date:  Tue, 22 Apr 97 23:20:47 
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: CRYONICS Re: Science and the Soul

In #8128, On Tue, 22 Apr 97 John K. Clark <> wrote:

> In #8115 On Mon, 21 Apr 97  Mike Perry <> Wrote:
>              
[...]

>         >Moreover, I think it is a different idea from the more usual
>         >"spiritual" concepts that sometimes are cited against cryonics. 
>              
> 
> I disagree, I think it's exactly the same idea and we're talking about a 
> traditional religious soul.

It's my understanding that the traditional, religious soul can't be 
duplicated. This one, as I imagine it, *could* be
duplicated by creating and activating a 
duplicate body. It would not be guaranteed to reappear if we had an 
emulation of that body that was physically very different, however
--only a duplicate made of similar 
atoms, etc. could guarantee that. Again, I don't think it's likely, but
I think Mr. Clark is right that it could never be disproved (in other 
words it's not a falsifiable hypothesis, therefore it's not 
scientific)--an additional, large nail in its coffin.

More generally 
it seems that the claim that consciousness, feeling, etc. would *not* 
reappear in an emulation, even if done in a strange way, but 
capturing all information about the original system, including the 
processing of information that goes on, is an unfalsifiable
hypothesis, therefore unscientific. This would appear, then, to be 
a strong argument for strong AI, if you accept quantum mechanics.

Mike Perry

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