X-Message-Number: 25034
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 00:32:54 -0700
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: Quick Questions for Richard

Dear Richard:

I have a quick question or two for you, before going into the more lengthy 
reply I refer to in the last message. You say:

>Disassembling and reassembling the brain, on the other hand, is not
>an operation that can preserve identity.


It might very well be convenient to split a cryopreserved patient into 
several or many pieces, work on the pieces separately (at low temperature, 
say, where unintended changes would be minimized), then reassemble the 
pieces and finally resuscitate the patient physiologically intact. Now, in 
your view, would such disassembly/reassembly kill the soul within, so you'd 
just get a different individual? If you so much as split a brain into two 
pieces then joined them back, with full recovery of function, you could say 
that there was a time when "you didn't have the person" thus the original 
is irretrievably lost. Is this how you view the matter? We can also 
consider the idea of splitting the brain into parts which, however, are 
still in contact via radio, as should be possible in the future. Is the 
person still present (assuming consciousness goes on as usual), and if this 
contact is briefly shut down then resumed, does that kill the soul?

Mike Perry

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=25034