Re: DNA as a storage device: a Bad Idea

From: Wolf Kirchmeir (wwolfkir_at_sympatico.ca)
Date: 08/03/04 

Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2004 12:54:45 -0400

Sergio Navega wrote:

> Wolf, I once knew a guy who had a very special quality. After just
> a sip of coffee, he was able to spit with such an accuracy that
> you could give him a target 5 meters away and he would spit
> within 50 centimeters off the target. Now suppose that this guy
> was hired by a corporation, and this corporation wanted to tell
> its stockholders if the fiscal year ended in profit or loss.
> The guy, after listening to the results of this year and taking
> a generous shot of coffee, would go to the sidewalk, stand up in
> a specific position and then spit toward a lamppost some meters
> away. If the spit fell before the lamppost, that would mean loss;
> if beyond, then profit. The marking of such a spit on the ground
> would last for several days (provided it don't rain). Can you
> understand that the spit is a "memory" of the company's results?
>
> Sergio Navega.

I'm glad you put "memory" in quotes. Shows you realise it's a metaphor:
all traces of previous eents are "memories" of thso events. In the same
sense, any representation is a "memory." In the same sense, a piece of
*** music is a "memory" of the song. Etc.