X-Message-Number: 20879
From: "michaelprice" <>
References: <>
Subject: Information in the Universe
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 01:22:50 -0000

Unfortunately information is lost whenever order (= information) is degraded
to disorder (=  heat).  Physicists have not found a way around this, despite
much effort; the laws of thermodynamics, and in particular the 2nd law that
disorder always increases, are the result.

I know many cryonicists like to believe that information is not lost (e.g.
that the signal can be recovered even when it drops below the background
noise level), but there is no evidence to support this.  Of course new
physics may be developed that changes this (like time travel?), but not
IMHO.  I'm with Eddington on this:

"If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in
disagreement with Maxwell's equations - then so much worse for Maxwell's
equations.  If it is found to be contradicted by observation - well, these
experimentalists do bungle things sometimes.  But if your theory is found
to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope;
there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humilation."

-- Arthur S. Eddington (British Astrophysicist, 18882-1933) in The nature
of the Physical World (1928)


Cheers,
Michael C Price
----------------------------------------
http://mcp.longevity-report.com
http://www.hedweb.com/manworld.htm
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message #20871
> Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 21:19:41 -0500
> From: Francois <>
> Subject: Information in the Universe
>
> All the discussions about quantum mechanics (which I find quite
interesting)
> have brought a question to my mind. Maybe someone can shed some light on
it.
> I have read about a speculation in physics that once information is
created,
> it can never be destroyed. It is always, in principle, possible to recover
> any information, however scambled it may have become. I understand of
course
> that possible "in principle" does not always translate to possible "in
> practice". Still, it could mean that permanent death is ABSOLUTELY
> impossible in our universe. A sufficiently advanced technology would
always
> be able to recover all the information defining us as individuals and use
it
> to perfectly recreate those individuals, even after an arbitrarly long
time.
> It would also make cryonics a moot point. Wait long enough and you will be
> revived, whatever happenned to your body after your death. Just how firmly
> is that speculation about information established in modern physics, and
> does it state that information recovery is always possible in principle
> only, or in practice also? Btw, my take on copies vs originals is this: a
> perfect copy is not a copy. It IS the original. So if you have two objects
> which are perfect copies of each other, then you don't have a copy and an
> original, you have two originals.
>
> Francois
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> No lifespan shorter than eternity is acceptable
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>
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>
> End of CryoNet Digest
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>

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