From: Louis Newstrom (louisnews@comcast.net)
Date: Tue Apr 30 2002 - 13:35:20 MDT
From: "Dossy" <dossy@panoptic.com>
> How will you know that you've actually awoken from cryo-sleep?
I assume that you will "wake up". I think that in most (non-hostile)
scenarios, your benefactors would tell you what they are doing.
> In other words, when you're finally resuscitated, will it matter to
> you if you woke up in your original body? What if you wake up in
> a different body?
Depends if it functions the same. If I can't type any more because my
fingers don't feel the same, that could be a concern. I would have to
re-learn.
Or it could go the other way. If I am super athletic, beyond what I am now,
that could be a pleasant change.
> How will you know you really "woke up" at all
> and really weren't just uploaded into some kind of reality
> simulator and that you'll never have a physical body ever again?
This technique is used to tell if you are dreaming:
Occasionally, try to think back. I'm sitting here, at the computer. Where
was I before that? And before that? And before that? In a dream you
usually cannot think "back" more than the current or maybe one scene. If
you can't tell how you got to where you were, that is a "non-sequitor". It
may indicate that you are either dreaming or in a fabricated scenario that
is unconnected to your life in your body.
One reason this could fail: In Vanilla Sky, they edited his memory to make
a smooth transition. If they can edit your memory, then it doesn't matter
if you find out. They can erase it again.
> Does this matter? Should it matter?
> "What if you were a brain in a vat ..."
I think it DOES matter. Most people focus on the science, and say that
uploading is possible. I look at the economics and ask "Why would they do
it"? If you didn't set up a huge trust fund and a company dedicated to
waking you into a simulation, then I would ask who did, and what do they
want?
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