PDA log · 370 words
FAQ IS THIS REALLY ME? AREN'T I JUST A COPY? There are branches of human thought which reject the idea that a perfect duplicate is the same as the Self. This is known as the Thesean fallacy. Debunking this fallacy is beyond the scope of this FAQ. It may be productive to ask yourself: if I suffered progressive brain damage from a disease like Alzheimer's, would I accept nanofixing therapy to restore my brain to its earlier, more functional state? Would I be worried about losing my identity—or happy to have it back? Think of human body fabrication as a particularly rapid and holistic therapy. BUT I DIED BACK THERE! THIS ISN'T ME! Your old body stopped working, but you did not die. The processes of your brain caused your neural nanosystems to send an update to your last stored image, where those processes resumed. A biobed fabricated a new body. You picked up right where you left off. Many people intuitively fear discontinuity or breaks in the mental process. Remember that your brain is a constantly evolving process, a warm, wet, noisy organ. You lose more of your identity in the course of a regular workday than you do in the clean, clear transfer from old brain to new. While data compression may introduce some noise, your brain evolved to deal with errors. WHAT IF I GET REPRINTED, THEN MY OLD BODY WAKES UP? This outcome is illegal and should be prevented by the testate protocol in your neural nanosystems. Consult an Alterra labor counsel for further advice. YOU CAN'T STORE A HUMAN BODY IN COMPUTER MEMORY! It's true that imaging and archiving the position of every atom in a human body is beyond our technology. Instead, phase conjugation stores a quantum echo of the body in optical quartz. This image cannot be cloned; it can only produce one printed body. However, it's easy to produce multiple images during one scan, allowing you to keep archived copies of your body from months or even years earlier. DOES THIS MEAN THAT PEOPLE ARE NOW IMMORTAL? It is possible to achieve dramatic life extension with biobed support. The social consequences of this emerging technology are beyond the scope of this FAQ.
