Re: Medtech a la Los

Thomas Barclay of the Clan Barclay wrote:

> Actually, it would in the terms I'm speaking in. If I can map a brain
> enough to identify those pathways and connections and how the cells
> interrelate physically, electically, chemically.... and presumably
this
> *is* enough to map the human mind.... then I sure imagine I can create
> this situation by growing the brain the way I want to. And as for
> remapping it.... it might be as simple as a nanite injection to remap
an
> area of the brain by altering its physical structure. All the tools to
> grow brain cells an connections exist within the brain (as I imagine
due
> contrary operations) and we'd just need to be able to activate these
and
> control them. This would be a requirement to "update" a stored clone.
>

In that case a clone has to be grown from day one with a specific "host"
map
in mind. (I.e. You're not going to put Brian in a clone gron for Jerry.)

>
> That blah blah blah turns out to include things like:
> Prediciting the world full of interlinked computers in which we can
shop
> at home, communicate with each other using voice and video, etc. Hmmm
> that one seems to have happened.
> Flying around the world really fast. Not yet, but their are some nice
> projects in later stages of developments that may realize this in the
> next 10 or 20 years.
>

I guess my point is for everything that we are doing now that noone
thought
could be done, there is something we assumed could/would be done that
isn't!
And there's a large jump between theoretical science and practical
science,
be it because of funding, ethical issues, or simple making things happen
in
the field that should be able to happen in the lab.(complecity/chaos)  I
don't doubt that what you are saying can happen, I just question whether
it
will happen by 2180 or if it's best put into an alternate SF universe.
Becasue the level of tech your talking (to turn your argument on itself)
is
so advanced that other technologies may very well have gotten to the
point
to change war around so drastically that we might not even recognize it
as
we are simulating it today. Seriously is we have such a masterly control
over brain technology/cloning technology and so on, what's the rationale
for
having human troops in the equation anyway since the one thing that
makes
them human, their selves and their thoughts can now be distilled into a
replicatable pattern. Then we should put that porgramming into something
less frail and superior performing than flesh.

> Anyway, the whole point of the posting was to spark some thoughts,

This you've done. Actually despite all my bleating this discussion has
really solidified some things I was already planning for my next story.
(already under way).

Apparently Australia hasn't collapsed into an abyss yet, but then again
maybe God is operating off of Zulu time. We'll see....

Cheers

Los

p.s. There's a few cool Mars movies coming out next year including one
by
James Camaroon (Bova's Mars?) Previews are already out. They're looking
to
whip up public support for teh mars missions, (Camaroon is on the baord
of
the Mars society IIRC)