Imagine that the bundle of cables were all completely identical and unlabelled in any way. Even if you could surgically reconnect the nerves perfectly, you don'

Imagine that the bundle of cables were all completely identical and unlabelled in any way. Even if you could surgically reconnect the nerves perfectly, you don't know which nerves should be connected to what on the other side. As another commenter posted, there are 31 "bundles" of nerves carrying a total of a few hundred thousand individual fibres. The odds of re-connecting a human spine correctly are simply incredibly small.