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From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Matter transmission, etc.
Message-ID: <1876@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 15-Oct-85 23:45:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.1876
Posted: Tue Oct 15 23:45:27 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Oct-85 07:58:45 EDT
References: <1825@umcp-cs.UUCP> <87@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
Lines: 40

In article <87@mit-eddie.UUCP> jbs@mit-eddie.UUCP (Jeff Siegal) writes:

[ The story thus far:

  Someone suggested that atom-by-atom copying of humans was made very
  difficult by the uncertainty principle.

  My reply pointed out that the precision needed was drastically reduced by
  the limits the human body faces when observing itself.  And now, the
  reply. ]

>This is pure nonsense.  So what if the atom-by-atom structure of bone is
>or is not reporduced.  In fact, you could still achieve human matter
>transmision without sending bone at all.  It is the thoughts and ideas,
>contained in the mind, which is important and this is the part that CAN
>NOT be measured with sufficient accuracy.  Period.  No if's and's or
>but's (sorry for the cliche).  (sigh, let me repeat myself) There is an
>absoulte, lower limit on the accuracy with which one can measure both
>the position and momentium of any particle (an electron).  Specifically,
>the uncertainty (product of uncertainty of position and uncertainty of
>momentum) can be no less than h (Planc's constant).  One can not hope to
>reproduce the state of a human brain since doing so would require
>reporducing electric impulses and energy states of atoms/molucules.  It
>is not enough to know that "there are a few electrons flying around."
>You must also know where they are and where thay are going.

Well, much of this is supposition.  What constitutes the essential state of
the human brain is essentially unknown.  It may in fact be true that it
depends entirely upon the presence or absence of various chemicals in
various places, and that the momentum is unimportant except as far as
getting the temperature right is concerned (and as I said before,
temperature is about as imprecise as one can measure molecular velocity).
The only upper limit in precision of either velocity or position is what the
human body can observe.  If it can't tell the difference, then for all
intents and purposes there is none.  

It may in fact be impossible to achieve that level of precision.  But I
don't see any reason for presupposing that we cannot.

Charley Wingate