Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
On 23 April 2015 at 16:36, Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au
<javascript:;>> wrote:
> Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
>>
>> On 23 April 2015 at 16:19, Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au
<javascript:;>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>>> I doubt that. Is the point susceptible of proof either way? Not all
>>>>> brain
>>>>> processes stop under anaesthesia.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> When embryos are frozen all metabolic processes stop. On thawing, the
>>>> embryo is usually completely normal. If this could be done with a
>>>> brain would it make any difference in the philosophical discussion?
>>>
>>>
>>> That becomes a hypothetical discussion. Let's do it first and
discuss the
>>> implications later. I remain sceptical about the possibility. An embryo
>>> is
>>> not an adult brain. Injecting antifreeze to inhibit cell rupturing
might
>>> have adverse consequences in the brain.
>>
>>
>> In anaesthesia (and even in sleep) metabolic processes involved in
>> consciousness are suspended without damage to the brain. But this
>> whole list is hypothetical discussion! Mere technical difficulty does
>> not affect the philosophical questions.
>
>
> I think it might -- if the technical issues are such that the process is
> impossible in principle (for physical reasons).
Then it wouldn't be a mere technical difficulty. You have to show that
suspending biological processes then restarting them breaks some
physical law, and I don't think that it does.
The argument would be that physical laws stop you restarting the
suspended processes -- the suspension process causes irreversible
damage, for instance. Irreversible processes are quite plentiful under
known physical laws.
Bruce
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