X-Message-Number: 3799 Date: Sun, 5 Feb 1995 15:01:59 -0600 (CST) From: Ken Wolfe <> Subject: Re: #3792 Uploading In message 3792, Thomas Donaldson urges those who express enthusiasm for the idea of uploading to be much more specific about the sort of machines they expect to be uploaded into. I would have to agree. I would add to that the need to be very specific about the uploading process itself. I have been reading the article The Anatomical Basis Of Mind by Ben Best, now being published in Canadian Cryonics News. It is giving me a much better feeling for how the function of the brain can depend upon subtleties of the chemical environment that neurons find themselves in, and many other factors that usually get ignored in computer simulation of neuron fuction. For example, many neurotransmitters act more like hormontes, potentially affecting many, many neurons over a wide area. I am not saying that something like this is a show-stopper for uploading; what I would like to suggest is that a far, far better understanding of brain function is required before we can even begin to talk about what sort of machine would be suitable for uploading. As for the method of uploading, I am stull uncomfortable with any plan that claims to upload my identity into something else all at once while I am unconscious. The process whould have to be a gradual or piecemeal one that can happen while I am awake before I would really be convinced that it is viable. For now, I would still wish to have a label on my dewar saying No Uploading Please! Best regards, Ken Wolfe | Fax: I hate fax machines Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | Compu$erve: | GEnie: Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=3799