--- Randall Randall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Jul 4, 2007, at 3:17 PM, Tom McCabe wrote: > > --- Randall Randall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > >> On Jul 4, 2007, at 1:14 AM, Tom McCabe wrote: > >>> That definition isn't accurate, because it > doesn't > >>> match what we intuitively see as 'death'. > 'Death' > >> is > >>> actually fairly easy to define, compared to > "good" > >> or > >>> even "truth"; I would define it as the permanent > >>> destruction of a large portion of the > information > >> that > >>> makes up a sentient being's mind. > >> > >> I would say that 'life' is a process, and that > >> the cessation of the process is death. > > > > So, we die whenever we're put under anesthesia? > > No, I don't think so.
But I thought you just defined death as "the cessation of the process of life". If anesthesia doesn't shut down enough bodily processes to qualify, what about people who have gone into cardiac arrest? What about drowning victims, who are sometimes revived over an hour after the classical life signs have stopped? > > That > > seems to contradict the reports of everyone who's > had > > surgery. > > If I *did* think so (and I don't), why would that > make a difference? If a copy of me was created, he > would certainly feel like he was me; I don't think > anyone disputes that. So, then, what's the difference between "you" and "the copy"? > >> I don't > >> happen to agree with Heartland that the process > >> is summed up by electrical activity in the brain. > >> The information that describes a person's mind is > >> a description of the person, not the person. > > > > So, then, er, what is the person? > > The process. Already answered above. :) > > The traditional next step is for you to ask a bunch > of penetrating questions about edge cases, and while > I might have firm opinions about some of them, there > are going to be many I don't. So let me short > circuit > that by stating up front that I'm not sure exactly > what constitutes cessation of the process, any more > than I know exactly where red stops and yellow > begins > in a spectrum. For example, I do not know if > cooling > to liquid nitrogen temperatures and subsequent > resuscitation ends the process, as I would see it. To go for the most extreme case possible: I blast some guy into charred ash and smoke with a flamethrower. Obviously, all organic chemical processes whatsoever have ceased. I then use the handy nearby utility fog to collect all the atoms that were once him, and put them all back in the original places. The new self is totally identical, atom-for-atom, to the old self, so how is this "death" in any meaningful sense of the word? > > > -- > Randall Randall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > "If we have matter duplicators, will each of us be a > sovereign > and possess a hydrogen bomb?" -- Jerry Pournelle > > > ----- > This list is sponsored by AGIRI: > http://www.agiri.org/email > To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: > http://v2.listbox.com/member/?&; > - Tom ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! oneSearch: Finally, mobile search that gives answers, not web links. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mobileweb/onesearch?refer=1ONXIC ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=4007604&id_secret=11398352-9069c6
