* Julia Randolph [Tue, 31/08/2004 at 22:46 -0500] > On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 19:14:20 -0700, Warren Ockrassa > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Aug 31, 2004, at 6:47 PM, Alberto Monteiro wrote: > > > > > I imagine that if it were > > > possible to keep cutting with surviving remains we would get other > > > smaller versions of "I". > > > > I'm sure you're correct. This is actually one reason I was so intrigued > > by _Kiln People_ -- a sort of energetic resonance being passed into > > clay, and then "inloaded" (before it had too much time to digress into > > its own consciousness) is an interesting idea. If you haven't read the > > book you might want to. ;) > > > > It's why I don't really buy the idea of someone becoming "immortal" by > > putting his consciousness into a machine. There'd be immediate > > divergence which would only grow over time; in essence you'd have two > > distinct entities in very short order. (Oh, you could kill the body -- > > but that would end the distinct consciousness in the body. I don't > > think there's one "essence" allotted to a person, IOW.) > > Poul Anderson explored this some in his series beginning with _Harvest > the Stars_. I recommend it. (Not just for that, but for other > "divergence" issues.) >
Robert Sawyer 's Terminal Experiment also is worth reading exploring the idea. -- Jean-Marc _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
