Quantum Archeology

Quantum Archeology -also known as quantum resurrection and physical resurrection, is an emerging idea in transhumanist philosophy describing a possible methodology for raising the ancient dead. It anticipates coming process technologies usually called hypercomputing that include quantum computing, nanocomputing and light computing and attempts to look at resurrection issues in a post-singularity world.

Supporters include Frank Tipler and opponents Robert Ettinger.
The idea was inspired by Asimov's Foundation trilogy where Hari Seldon makes acurate probabilistic predictions using psychohistory across thousands of years.

The basis of psychohistory is the idea that, while the actions of a particular individual could not be foreseen, the laws of statistics could be applied to large groups of people and used to predict the general flow of future events.

Quantum archeology states that it is possible to reconstruct the exact states of any of spacetime, including the memories of any person, since the cosmos is entirely subject to law.

Asimov used the analogy of a gas: in a gas, the motion of a single molecule is very difficult to predict, but the mass action of the gas can be predicted to a high level of accuracy - known in physics as the Kinetic Theory.

Quantum archeology is opposite of psychohistory and is an attempt at the science of how those predictions are made, including methods like and is in its infancy.

It assumes the cosmos is a determinist system and it therefore follows it is possible to describe any history with enough processing power leading to resurrection by future techniques.

[ supports the theory, although sees manifestation into three dimensional resurrectees as unnecessary because sufficient simulations will be the same thing.

Like archeology which is able to reconstruct objects from ancient times using surviving fragments, knowledge about similar objects and probabilities, quantum archeology assumes future computing power like quantum computers will enable this by back tracing using laws of cause and effect with emerging mathematical and statistical methods.

There are always more variables in the cosmos than there were is history enabling enough information to be gathered to reconstruct any historical event down to the quantum particle. The universe is becoming increasing complex and any group of variables should plot backwards to a time when there are fewer events.

Everett's Many World's Theory implies that many future worlds will have few common ancestors. Therefore enough variables will exist at any future time to resurrect any past event in infinite or near infinite worlds.

Quantum Archeology further holds that no event in the cosmos can be non-determined, just complex, and makes no special conditions for human beings or any observers.

The idea was first discussed on line in the kurzweilai forums, where it was initially regarded as a pseudoscience, but began to be taken seriously as it received endorsement from eminent scientists like Frank J. Tipler and discussed in Universities by scientists like Professor Vlatko Vedral.

Critics of the theory include Professor Robert Ettinger, who thinks there may be some special property of a human body not knowable by mapping.

Another criticism of the theory is that entropy causes too much information to be lost at death therefore resurrection would breech the second law of thermodynamics.

Proponents retort that entropy does not imply abstract chaos but presently unmeasurable complexity.

Religious objections appear to believe human beings operate by different laws to the universe which was a challenge made to Everett's Many Worlds Theory.

Another objection is that a computer simulation may not produce a person. Founder of cyonics Professor Robert Ettinger in 2007 wrote on quantum archeology:

Some philosophers have criticized transhumanism on the grounds that it is an attempt at a religion since both posit immortality, resurrection, and through the Simulation Argument, a creator, but it is devoid of a subjective valuation system for Man.

Debates occur about the nature of identity such as those discussed in The Prospect of Immortality, and by the philosopher Professor Derek Parfit; the computing capacity needed, and the social and legal difficulties of raising the dead.

See Also

*Psychohistory
*Statistics
*Prediction
*Quantum Theory
*Many Worlds Theory

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