Revivees are zombies. That is, they are animated, but not conscious. Depending on their background, they may conceptualise this in different ways, such as being still dead, being damned, having no soul, etc. This confirms suspicions raised by previous experimental work on freezing and reviving chimpanzees, and casts some doubt on how successful the celebrated first full revival of a dog really was. A scientist in a secret laboratory in China begins to experiment with freezing and reviving babies and very young children, who may be more free of preconceptions of what it is like to be alive, to see what sort of person they develop into.
Revivees are zombies. That is, they are animated, but not conscious. Depending on their background, they may conceptualise this in different ways, such as being still dead, being damned, having no soul, etc.
How can that even work? Literally, how can it work? Consciousness is one of the things the brain does. How do they conceptualize, including forming self-concepts, and act “animated”, without normal consciousness?
Exactly. Except that rather than being a remarkable but rare thing with no apparent causes and no known mechanism, it happens (in this imaginary scenario) every time to revivees.
“Consciousness”, after all, is a word we use to name a part of our conceptualisation of mental phenomena, and deductions about the real world made from its definition need not be accurate. It need not even match up to any word in some other human language, let alone the physical result of such a radical operation on the brain as cryonic time-travel.
Exactly. Except that rather than being a remarkable but very rare thing with no apparent causes, it happens (in this imaginary scenario) every time to revivees.
“Consciousness”, after all, is a word we use to name a part of our conceptualisation of mental phenomena, and deductions about the real world made from its definition need not be accurate. It need not even match up to any word in some other human language, let alone the physical result of such a radical operation on the brain as cryonic time-travel.
In this case whether it “works” is a matter of where to draw the line. The Zombie Preacher of Somerset that Good_Burning_Plastic linked had an animated body, with competent mental faculties and some psychological continuity with the former person. If he could become a zombie from a blow to the head, it seems quite plausible (for the purpose of writing fiction, not for making predictions) that the same could happen with cryonics.
In this case whether it “works” is a matter of where to draw the line. The Zombie Preacher of Somerset that Good_Burning_Plastic linked had an animated body, with competent mental faculties and some psychological continuity with the former person. If he could become a zombie from a blow to the head, it seems quite plausible (for the purpose of writing fiction, not for making predictions) that the same could happen with cryonics.
Revivees are zombies. That is, they are animated, but not conscious. Depending on their background, they may conceptualise this in different ways, such as being still dead, being damned, having no soul, etc. This confirms suspicions raised by previous experimental work on freezing and reviving chimpanzees, and casts some doubt on how successful the celebrated first full revival of a dog really was. A scientist in a secret laboratory in China begins to experiment with freezing and reviving babies and very young children, who may be more free of preconceptions of what it is like to be alive, to see what sort of person they develop into.
How can that even work? Literally, how can it work? Consciousness is one of the things the brain does. How do they conceptualize, including forming self-concepts, and act “animated”, without normal consciousness?
I think he means something like the Cotard delusion (see also).
Exactly. Except that rather than being a remarkable but rare thing with no apparent causes and no known mechanism, it happens (in this imaginary scenario) every time to revivees.
“Consciousness”, after all, is a word we use to name a part of our conceptualisation of mental phenomena, and deductions about the real world made from its definition need not be accurate. It need not even match up to any word in some other human language, let alone the physical result of such a radical operation on the brain as cryonic time-travel.
Exactly. Except that rather than being a remarkable but very rare thing with no apparent causes, it happens (in this imaginary scenario) every time to revivees.
“Consciousness”, after all, is a word we use to name a part of our conceptualisation of mental phenomena, and deductions about the real world made from its definition need not be accurate. It need not even match up to any word in some other human language, let alone the physical result of such a radical operation on the brain as cryonic time-travel.
Wouldn’t that be subjectively equivalent on the cryo-patient’s end to “cryonics doesn’t work, you just stay dead”?
In this case whether it “works” is a matter of where to draw the line. The Zombie Preacher of Somerset that Good_Burning_Plastic linked had an animated body, with competent mental faculties and some psychological continuity with the former person. If he could become a zombie from a blow to the head, it seems quite plausible (for the purpose of writing fiction, not for making predictions) that the same could happen with cryonics.
In this case whether it “works” is a matter of where to draw the line. The Zombie Preacher of Somerset that Good_Burning_Plastic linked had an animated body, with competent mental faculties and some psychological continuity with the former person. If he could become a zombie from a blow to the head, it seems quite plausible (for the purpose of writing fiction, not for making predictions) that the same could happen with cryonics.