X-Message-Number: 9797
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 05:26:31 -0700
From: Paul Wakfer <>
Subject: Re: CryoNet #9792 - Heckling
References: <>

> Message #9792
> Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 21:22:41 -0700 (PDT)
> From: John K Clark <>
> Subject: Heckling

> Dr. Merkle gave good reasons for thinking that Nanotechnology would be able
> to extract enough information from a skillfully frozen brain to preserve
> memory and identity.

John, I normally have great respect for your intelligent, your logic,
and your incisive writing, but this sentence makes no sense to me at
all. The crucial point which Thomas and I have tried to make again and
again is that WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT STRUCTURES OF THE BRAIN CONTAIN OUR
MEMORIES AND IDENTITY. Therefore, if there is even one *iota* of
distributed irreversible damage (ie. truely lost brain information), it
makes no sense at all to say that nanotechnology, of whatever level, can
retrieve and reconstruct our memories and identity, since for all we
know that one particular bit of distributed irreversible damage is
obliterating the exact areas of the brain which contains those very
things which we must preserve in order for our *self* to survive.

This is why, without having read Ralph Merkle's post, I totally agree
with Thomas that it is *irrelevant* to the crucial question at hand. In
fact, that is why I did not bother to read it. It is much more useful to
spent my scarce time on efforts to develop ways to *prove* that memories
and identity can return after cryopreservation by actually having them
do so.

-- Paul --

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