X-Message-Number: 11940
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 00:05:15 -0700
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: "Pattern identity" calls for freezing

Bob Ettinger, in discussing Moravec's book *Mind Children* (#11931) says:
>
>He points out weaknesses in the "body identity" view of survival, but offers 
>no convincing support for his recommended "pattern identity" view. We have 
>often discussed criteria of survival on this forum, and I believe it is fair 
>to say that no firm conclusion is yet justified. This being the case, any 
>sensible person will take a conservative stance, and save as much as possible 
>of both his information and his physical body.
>
As it happens, I am favorable to the "pattern identity" view myself, though
I'll stop short of insisting on it as a dogma. However, my views imply that
cryonics is important because I think there is value in saving one's pattern
(even if it could be recreated at random eventually somewhere, just as any
book could). Presently the only reasonable hope of preserving the pattern at
death is to preserve the physical remains, or at least the brain; of the
available methods, freezing (cryonics) appears to offer the best prospects.

Mike Perry

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