X-Message-Number: 21346 From: Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 16:52:44 EST Subject: True - but not revelevant to survival options for humans. --part1_142.c0bc7af.2b967a2c_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit There is only one certainty in life that has ever been proven "I think therefore I am." Until someone can come up with another certainty the only way I can *know* I exist is when I think. It is not the information, it is the thinking, (Perhaps about some information - any old information) that is the only certainty that the entity I call "I" does exist in this world so far. It is also the only way you can know that you existwhen you are the "I." Each duplicate, when it thinks is a separate "I." We know that because X is distinct from Y if and only X can exist without Y. By its distinctness above, each I is different from any other I. The "I" of a duplicate is distinct from the "I" of the original. Survival of one means nothing (in terms of survival) to any other I. A cryonetter said: "An exact copy of a piece of symbolic information is the same as the original. For example, if I make a copy of some program on my PC, then that copy is exactly identical to the original. An exact copy of a story is the same as the original story." This has no bearing on the continuing inquiry if making a personal duplicate (when the original is destroyed or too damaged to reanimate, or will be destroyed). A person is more than information described as similar to information like in a book (for example). If you want to "live" your eternal life as printed words on a paper page - be my guest. I prefer to live at least as I do now, the same thinking/experiencing entity that I am now. I think it would be equivlant to suicide for one to allow himself/herself to be duplicated and then allow the original to be destroyed, if that person had any other options. David --part1_142.c0bc7af.2b967a2c_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21346