X-Message-Number: 18655
From: 
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 10:07:26 EST
Subject: The Prospect of Immortality

Thanks to Thomas Donaldson for the mention. The book is available in full on 
our web site, as is Man into Superman.

Eric Drexler gave me credit for anticipating nanotech repair of frozen 
patients. However, I only saw part of it. I mentioned the possibility of 
repair cell by cell or even molecule by molecule if necessary, but I did not 
foresee the advances in electronics that could allow self-contained repair 
robots. I therefore assumed that the exterior control mechanisms would have 
to be macro and the whole assembly large, with only the probe-end surgical 
parts on the nano scale, something like Heinlein's waldos, and hence perhaps 
a very long repair time. With modernized versions of nano, everything looks 
(potentially) much quicker and cheaper.

If there is any lesson here, it is that I am not optimistic enough. (Also 
sometimes not pessimistic enough, but that is on a different time scale.)

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
www.cryonics.org

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