Assume that scientists could create a perfect copy of my present body and bring it to life. Would this copy be me? Of course not, I can’t be in two places at the same time. That copy would claim to be me since it would have the exact same mind and memories, but it would just be a perfect clone, independent of me. If I was to die of a disease, my clone would go on living on his own, but I, myself, would be dead. Would that change anything if I died several years before my perfect clone is brought to life? Would my mind suddenly awaken in this clone as he is brought to life? No, since we already established that this clone is not me. Now, suppose that after I die, instead of using different atoms to create a clone of me, scientists just used my own cryogenically preserved dead body and bring it back to life, would that change anything? Hardly, since to our best knowledge, all atoms are the same and we constantly replace them throughout our life, even in our brain.
Thus even if cryonics works and can bring frozen people back to life, they will only be perfect copies of the originals. They will happily claim that they are the person who originally died, although, that original person will still be dead. Signing up for cryonics is thus useless. If you want to live forever, the best bet is on life extension research.
Ultimately, the core question is this: What keeps the continuity of the mind from moment to moment? My guess is that the mind is an ongoing process of neurons firing in patterns. If the process is interrupted, the mind dies. If the process resumes, the mind reappears, but this is just a copy. If the body is a computer, the mind is probably like a particular session. You can put the computer in standby (sleep) or even hibernation (coma), but if you turn it off, you die.
Note that for the rest of the society, there is no noticeable difference between the original and the copy. So we could choose to preserve a brilliant scientist or artist so that the next generations can enjoy this person's future achievements. It would be like preserving both the DNA and the living conditions that made this person a great mind.
Where is the flaw in this reasoning? I would love to have this question asked to the next cryonics guest of the Sunday Evening Update.
Nicolas
Edited by halneufmille, 04 December 2009 - 06:11 PM.