From: Dickey, Michael F (michael_f_dickey@groton.pfizer.com)
Date: Tue Sep 03 2002 - 13:54:44 MDT
From: gts [mailto:gts@optexinc.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2002 2:10 PM
To: extropians@extropy.org
Subject: RE: Quantum tunneling and human immortality
Eliezer,
> Your *total* risk of dying over
> your *entire* infinite lifespan is 1/32768.
I don't accept your math (see alejandro's comment).
However, regardless of your computations, if you might die then you are
not by definition immortal.
-gts
------------------------
By your implied definition of 'immortal' no one is and no one ever can be.
Even if one were to resolve the impossible 'problem' of quantum tunneling,
one may still be killed by the destruction of the pattern holding and
information processing medium. Is your definition of immortal 'not capable
of being killed'? If so, then nothing will ever be immortal, as the
universe will eventually run out of usable energy. Extropians and
transhumanists tend to use immortal in a sense that they are not predestined
to an upward limit of life expectancy (e.g. the slow detioration of our
biological information pattern and processing system manifested in the aging
process). Quantum tunneling does not imply such a limit as one merely needs
to replace damanged parts faster than the rate of damage. Considering how
slow Quantum tunneling damage accumulates, this will not be an issue.
Michael
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