From: den Otter (otter@globalxs.nl)
Date: Sun Jan 24 1999 - 09:18:36 MST
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> From: Gina Miller <echoz@hotmail.com>
> I have a few questions.
> First of all, I am one who believes in the hope associated with
> cryonics. After enlisting with the services of a angency like Alcor,
> they retain money's or insurance to freeze you after death. This is all
> in the hopes for future technology do one day have advanced to the point
> of correcting, the error leading you to death. But last night, I was
> fearfuly thinking: when they are paid, and the time has come to return,
> say that there are some who are so to speak scientific giunnea pigs.
I'm quite sure no existing cryonics org would start reviving people
without having done extensive tests on animals etc., and the
required technologies were deemed reliable. I don't think it's
being done yet, but you could also offer (standard) suspensions
at a discount to those that are willing to be revived first, thus
being the test subjects.
But
> with the amount of people having this procedure done, won't there be too
> many for just the goverment or medical practice?
There are hardly a thousand of us now, and I don't think there will be
explosive growth anytime soon. Besides, the technology that's needed
to repair the frozen will (probably) also put an end to society as we
know it, including governments and the medical establishment. To
increase the chances of successful revival, it might even be necessary
to ship the frozen heads/bodies to some safer place like Mars (see
the "Major Technologies" thread) at some point.
> Then who will save us,
> only the freezing has been paid for, no one has been paid in advance to
> save us and bring us back?
If all goes well the cryonics organizations will (for example)
wait until the technology to revive people (nanotech + AI,
probably) is cheap enough to buy and use on their patients. It
could be bought using the same funds which would now be used
for, say, new perfusion equipment or LN2 tanks. As you sign up,
it's for the whole trip, not just storage. Of course, money
itself may be obsolete by then and the Singularity may be upon
us and all that.
> Also, I'm wondering, will it at all be possible to bring someone
> backk from our memory banks alone?
It should be possible to "reconstruct" someone in such a way that
s/he fits the (subjective) image that others have of this person, but
this is of course of little use to the original.
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