X-Message-Number: 24910
From: "mike99" <>
Subject: RE:  #24902 Hell; biological brains
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 17:11:19 -0600

Mike Perry <> wrote:
...
> Even though I discount the likelihood of anyone winding up in a state of
> eternal punishment, and am not sure there will be much if any place for
> "punishment" as we now understand it, there are good reasons, as
> I see it,
> to choose cryonics over destructive alternatives. One is that I
> imagine one
> will feel far more in touch with the historical process if successfully
> reanimated, and I think that will become important as one lives for
> centuries, millennia, and longer. (Keep in mind that to live so long will
> require a motive to do so. Feeling that one is interfacing with
> history and
> helping make it happen is one such motive. This should involve benevolent
> interactions with others, with many corresponding rewards to the
> well-disposed.) I go into this whole issue in more detail in *Forever for
> All*, esp. ch. 13.

In addition to Mike's excellent book (which I have recommended before on
this list), I would point out that in his book THE PHYSICS OF IMMORTALITY,
Frank Tipler has a similar take on hell/purgatory. This state of perdition
is neither eternal nor necessary, except insofar the individuals therein
refuse to refrain from harming others. Sooner or later, everyone in
perdition will learn that they can get to a better place by simply behaving
better. Also, the hell that Tipler describes is not a place of torture, but
rather a place of sequestration. What's bad about the place is that those in
it are separated from the fellowship and enjoyments of the heavens. And
that, even without lakes of burning pitch and devils with pitchforks, may be
the most painful possible torture.


Regards,

Michael LaTorra




"For any man to abdicate an interest in science is to walk with open eyes
towards slavery."
-- Jacob Bronowski

"Experiences only look special from the inside of the system."
-- Eugen Leitl

Member:
Extropy Institute: www.extropy.org
World Transhumanist Association: www.transhumanism.org
Alcor Life Extension Foundation: www.alcor.org
Society for Technical Communication: www.stc.org

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