X-Message-Number: 5311 Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 20:54:58 -0800 From: John K Clark <> Subject: SCI.CRYONICS The Difference -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In #5294 On 29 Nov 95 "Kent, Saul" <> Wrote: >The major difference I see between virtual reality and >reality is that if you're pushed off a cliff in virtual >reality you will survive, but if you're *really* pushed off >a cliff you will die. It's a big difference. All the more reason to want a virtual life. The difference however starts to get fuzzy if you have a backup, that is, if you have information on the position and momentum of every molecule in your body as they were just before you hit the ground, and if you have nano machines that are able to use that information to construct a replacement body from raw materials. An upload would not exist solely in cyberspace, in a purely mental world, because it's brain, it's nano computers would be in the world of physical reality, but being in two realms of existence at the same time is nothing new. Even now, although our brain exists only on the level of physics and chemistry, that's not what we value most. It's not the brain but the things the brain does that are important, things like consciousness, intelligence, memory, and emotion. These things are caused by processes in the physical world but are not part of it, they are part of the world of mental phenomenon, or if you like the newer term, cyberspace. John K Clark -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.i iQCzAgUBML6HhX03wfSpid95AQHG2wTwiwZFExTDISAWr6c898MrNSqPmRhfh79a A2H11zcmWozdxYXE9s/OUIw+i48NDHKGediKEdR/Xstm12xiQD2PtlT3HZNI2MtF sAOB6AylEULYgoCkQdqYVUAJnWh+4zsxdLRcitXMyM2aTuK84VtHs/u5vSIK/IU1 DB0XIPXGCxLGz8MUiiBpD4sxGMXBhpjT8EEVxZ3kja46j2kI17Y= =LIos -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=5311