X-Message-Number: 19109
From: 
Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 10:46:12 EDT
Subject: Re: CryoNet #19102 - #19108

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In a message dated 5/18/02 2:00:57 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
 writes:


> Brett Bellmore, #19099:
> 
> >Regarding their dismissal of immortality... It's reasonable, given what we
> >currently believe about physics. "Immortality" means that you live 
> forever,
> >that nothing can kill you. And yet, we live in a statistical universe, and
> >arbitrarilly violent events can occur, with comparably low probability. 
> Any
> >finite probability, however low, must eventually integrate to unity with 
> the
> >passage of finite time. Living for an infinite period of time IS 
> impossible.
> 
> I totally disagree.  If the probability of all the air in the room you are 
currently breathing in migrates to one corner of the room, rendering you 
anoxic, has a probability of 1 in 10 -12, I don't think that after a trillion 
years, the probability approaches unity.  It may have a probability much 
greater than 1 in 10-12 in that many years (say 1 in 1 billion?) but to say 
it will eventually have a probability, say of > .99, is simply not true.

Therefore, living forever or 'near forever' may indeed be possible.  Although 
the probability of being 'hit' by an accident, interstellar violence, etc. 
will always increase with advancing age, given intelligence and knowledge, 
and foresight of how to avoid these mishaps could theoretically keep the 
probability of a 'lightening strike' very, very low.

Ed




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