X-Message-Number: 15158 Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2000 07:01:28 -0500 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: about long term storage Hi! Another assumption I wish to question! I would certainly agree that at some time it will become highly favorable to store patients on the outside edge of the Solar system. It is (in a sense) absurd that we must use liquid nitrogen and other more involved cooling methods just to keep our patients at a temperature which fills virtually all of the Universe except near stars (a very small volume indeed). However such storage definitely does NOT mean simply leaving patients there to be discovered or rediscovered by unknown parties in the future. Just as now, SOME living people must be there to direct what to do with them. Cryonics societies are IMPORTANT, they aren't just a side issue. It is cryonics societies wich would have the greatest motivation to work on revival and to revive people when it's possible; and as I've said before, the method of storage may change, but the basic idea of a society responsible for those in storage will remain. It is cryonics societies which finally protect those in storage, no matter where they are. Others have no special reason to care, but cryonics societies DO have reasons to care. So no matter how it's done, we should very much NOT be content with leaving ourselves lying about. Whether we do so in orbits near that of Neptune, or in special centers on the planet Earth, we'll still need living people to defend our interests. I have explained already why I think that cryonics will go on indefinitely, but I'll point out here that even this does not support the need for cryonics societies. We now have relatives and friends who are cryonicists too; and it is because of these people that we can reasonably expect to be revived if our revival is possible. That expectation will continue into the indefinite future, too .... what do you think our cryonicist relatives and friends will be doing with themselves? So in a special sense, cryonics societies will be needed until everyone who can be revived has been revived. Best wishes and long long life to all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=15158