Re: Becoming Immortal?

From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Tue Apr 27 1999 - 07:33:42 MDT


"Mark Phillips" <clay8@hotmail.com> writes:

> All Extropians, Venturists, Esfandiarians, etc. should definitely
> check out Tom Bearden's stuff on the net. Just use a search engine (I
> prefer MSN or Lycos) and search for "Tom Bearden" and you'll find some
> interesting stuff that is, in a sense, way beyond even nanotech.

Definitely way beyond nanotech. Unfortunately, not in a particularly
flattering direction. The free energy people have yet to come up with
something that is replicable and works practically - and the theories
presented are awfully ad hoc. Bearden is better than most, but from an
scientific and academic point of view his papers are unconvincing (I
always get suspicious from "scientific papers" that claim to introduce
fundamental new physical principles and invalidate a lot of old
well-used theories without containing any equations or data but plenty
of quotes of what famous scientists have said).

> Also
> check out Saul-Paul Sirag. This guys, along with a few others, a
> re-writing physics itself: they're articulating an integrated,
> hyperspatial physics, with important implications for biology (aging,
> immortality, etc.) and consciousness. Their stuff is pretty good
> reading, so please check it out.

Unfortunately it is not good *scientific* reading.

I hate to sound like a greyface, but sometimes it is important to keep
a critical mindset. Open, but critical. As people interested in
radical possibilities we better base our thinking on as much solid
knowledge as possible, if we start putting faith in undemonstrated
hypothesises we will become a cult like any other. By all means, check
the fun theories, but remember that most will just be hot air. If the
above people do demonstrate their hypothesises in a convincing way,
more power to them (and I'll say it to them when they come here to
Stockholm for their prizes). But I'm not holding my breath.

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
asa@nada.kth.se                            http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/
GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y


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