X-Message-Number: 14630 Date: Fri, 06 Oct 2000 21:08:53 -0700 From: Olaf Henny <> Subject: Re: CryoNet #14614 - #14618 References: <> > > Message #14616 > From: "john grigg" <> > Subject: Will cryonauts be exploited in some way? > Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2000 21:27:59 GMT > > Tom Walton wrote: > I agree with a lot being said about cryonics. The only questionable thing is > if there will be a free world to live in upon reanimating a human cryonaut. > We'd only be able to hope that such a world exists and that our cryonauts > are > not going to be exploited in some way. > (end) > > Will we be in some way exploited after our reanimation?? Actually, I > believe so. I optimistically think the world will be a far more prosperous > and even freer place then it is now, but they will be afflicted with a great > amount of pride regarding their near-utopian world. They will very much > want to... SHOW OFF!! ?I believe, that exploitation will be the surest ticket to our re-animation, more so than the efforts of kin and other cryonauts, but I also believe this exploitation will be benign. While there still are incredible cruelties inflicted by people on people in some third world countries, in the so called developed world , Europe, North America and parts of Asia, there have been since my childhood in WW II enormous strides made in terms of tolerance, equal rights and respect for others. While there have been occasional setbacks, the trend has clearly been a positive one. It is called civilization. I see no reason why this trend should not continue. I therefore strongly agree with most points John Grigg recounts in his reply, except for the time frame he appears to imply: I believe that the re-animation will occur well before the end of this century. The first three decades after Robert Ettinger wrote his ground breaking book, there were only a few scientists working on the problem of cryonic suspension, with practically no funding, spurred only by the desire to safe their own butt . This has IMHO changed considerably within the last few years. There is a whole lot of mainstream basic research into cryonic organ preservation, which is bound to further technology in cryonics. But of course this is a long way from getting us to re-animation. I don t remember who said it (Isaac Asimov? Arthur C. Clarke?): Any technology far enough advanced is indistinguishable from magic. Well, I have already experienced in my lifetime a number of technologies, which would have appeared as magic to the little Olaf of 1945. Real time satellite transmission from another continent, a simple remote control or this communication, which will be received simultaneously by friends on all continents, although I write it only once, to name just a few. I suppose we all agree, that scientific progress is accelerating. I believe that: - in five years most cancers will be curable - in ten years we will be able to re-grow nerves in the central nervous system, thereby cure paraplegics, people who are hard at hearing or visually impaired due to nerve damage, cure Parkinson s, arrest Alzheimer s and we will probably be able to cure *all* cancers. - in twenty years, organ transplants may well be part of our barbarian history, and the sight of a scalpel (in a museum?) may send well send shudders down the back of the then young. Freezing and re-animation are concepts, which are probably today more plausible to most, then real time TV transmission of life events would have been in 1945. The hard part to get across is, that it would extend the life indefinitely and not just add a few years to a fellow s life, who died at 75 of cancer, which has meanwhile become curable. Best, Olaf >Will we be in some way exploited after our reanimation?? Actually, I >believe so. I optimistically think the world will be a far more prosperous >and even freer place then it is now, but they will be afflicted with a great >amount of pride regarding their near-utopian world. They will very much >want to... SHOW OFF!! > They can have celebrations and seminars explaining to each other just how > great their society is, but that would not be nearly as self-satisfying as > reanimating a person from the backward and barbaric early 21st century and > showing them around! This is a key reason why I see reanimation being > perfected and carried out by a future society. (Snip) I have cut John's submission here for sake of brevity, but they can be read in Message # 14616 Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=14630