X-Message-Number: 18967
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 09:57:01 -0400
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: CryoNet #18960 - #18965

To Bob Ettinger on his comments about "immortality":

As readers may guess, I disagree strongly. The very first point to be
remembered is that the diseases we get depend not only on the structure
and behavior of our bodies, but also on OUTSIDE effects which change
that structure and behavior. When we get a cold it does not happen
solely because of the structure of our body: a virus, specially 
adapted to deal with our PRESENT defenses, enters our body and happily
multiplies. While it does so our nose runs, we don't feel good, etc
etc. 

To become free of ALL diseases we must not only understand the entire
Universe but be able to use that understanding. I find that a very
unlikely event. Sure, we can learn more and more, and thus deal with
any fixed disease in a relatively short time (say a few hundred years
is short?). But diseases do not remain fixed. I do believe that we'll
have such problems less and less and we work on them, but that is
not the same as total freedom from all diseases. Of course the 
diseases most likely to attack us are those we've not yet even heard
of... say, defects of our means to deal with some breakdowns of our
body, which don't usually show up but only show up under special
circumstances (if you do any professional programming you'll know
exactly what I mean by such bugs).

But cheer up. As I said above, as we learn more we can expect such
problems to occur less often, and become less serious when they do
occur (ON AVERAGE). We may even conquer colds relatively soon.

		Best wishes and long long life,

			Thomas Donaldson

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