> From: Stathis Papaioannou [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > There are some who think that all you need to simulate a brain (and > effectively copy a person) is to fix it, slice it up, and examine it > under a microscope to determine the synaptic structure. This is almost > certainly way too crude: consider the huge difference to cognition > made by small molecules in tiny concentrations, such as LSD, which do > no more than slightly alter the conformation of certain receptor > proteins on neurons by binding to them non-covalently. On the other > hand, it is equally implausible to suppose that you have to get it > right down to the subatomic level, since otherwise cosmic rays or > changing the isotope composition of the brain would have a major > effect, and they clearly don't. >
I don't know if you can rule out subatomic and quantum. There seems to be more and more evidence pointing to an amount of activity going on there. A small amount of cosmic rays don't have obvious immediate gross effects but interaction is occurring. Exactly how much of it would need to be replicated is not known. You could be missing out on important psi elements in consciousness which are taken for granted :) Either way it would be approximation unless there was some way using theoretical physics where an exact instantaneous snapshot could occur with the snapshot existing in precisely equivalent matter at that instant. John ------------------------------------------- singularity Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/11983/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/11983/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=4007604&id_secret=96140713-a54b2b Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
