X-Message-Number: 10947 Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 16:42:32 -0500 From: Crevier <> Subject: The downside of success. I had a bad dream last night, and I wonder if anyone else had it at one time or other. It went something like this: ********************************** It is the year 2020, and cryopreservation technology has progressed by leaps and bounds. It is now possible to reversibly suspend human beings, and cryonic suspension, though still expensive, is a frequent procedure in the care of terminally ill patients. The law has been modified accordingly: it is now possible to perform suspensions before the clinical death of patients, since suspended patients are no longer considered dead. (In order to be legally dead nowadays, you ought to have suffered enough brain tissue destruction to render any future reconstruction of your brain and personality impossible.) Of course, cryonics organizations are thriving, and this conquered beachead over death makes everyone very happy. Everyone, that is, except many who planned for their suspensions by purchasing life insurance in the twentieth century: if you are no longer dead when suspended, then, by definition, the death benefit of a life insurance policy is no longer payable at that time. Those with no other resources than their life insurances cannot be suspended. *********************************** After breakfast and coffee, I realized that my dream had exaggerated the problem, and that there might be solutions to it. I'd like to hear other people's opinions before posting them, though. Daniel Crevier Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=10947