X-Message-Number: 17055 Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 02:54:43 -0700 From: Kennita Watson <> Subject: Cryonics Over Dead Geeks' Bodies Wired Magazine wrote: > "Instead of preserving the finest physical specimens of 21st-century > humanity -- the athletic, the attractive, the physically fit, > the Adonis and Venus de Milo types whose bodies are so well deserving of > eternity - we seem to be conserving geeks with taped-up glasses and bad > haircuts, people whose idea of dinner ranges only a little further than > Frito-Lays, Cheetos and Jolt," Pringle said. I take umbrage at Ms. Pringle's remarks. I am signed up for cryonic suspension, and while I am an unabashed technophile (Ms. Pringle might call me a "geek"), neither I nor any of my friends and associates has taped-up glasses, and almost none of us lives on junk food. Cryonics is the last-ditch means to life extension; it's much better to stay active throughout the longevity revolution, and eating right and exercising are proven strategies for assisting on that score. Caloric restriction is even better, but that's material for another article. Ms. Pringle seems not to appreciate the extent to which our appearances will be under our control in a future whose technology is advanced enough to revive those cryonically suspended. In that future, anyone who wants to look like Venus or Adonis will be able to do so. I think that almost all cryonicists are more interested in preserving their minds, their memories, their sense of identity -- their selves, as it were -- than their bodies. Consider Stephen Hawking; his body is a wreck (and I'm not enthralled by his haircut), but his mind richly deserves eternity, in whatever body he chooses for it. I sincerely hope he sees that eternity, with or without cryonic suspension. And I hope to see it with him. I have my insurance policy and my Alcor Med-Alert bracelet as my tickets to the future in case I would otherwise miss the boat. The future's gonna be great! Don't miss it! -- May you live long and prosper, Kennita -- Kennita Watson | Way Cool Internet Radio: http://www.live365.com | http://www.kennita.com | I eschew arthropods -- so don't bug me! Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=17055