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!

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