X-Message-Number: 29252 From: "Chris Manning" <> References: <> Subject: Re: revival instructions Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 14:47:17 +1100 ----- Original Message ----- From: "CryoNet" <> To: <> Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2007 9:00 PM Subject: CryoNet #29214 - #29220 > Message #29214 > References: <> > From: Kennita Watson <> > Subject: Re: revival instructions > Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 02:39:26 -0800 > > Chris Manning wrote: >> >> How will CI (or Alcor) decide when to revive people? ... >> >> CI apparently has no policy of asking people signing up for >> suspension whether they have any revival instructions. (And I gather >> Alcor does not have one either.) I mean instructions concerning which >> medical advances the person wants to wait for. > > IIRC, the Alcor membership form asks if you have such instructions. > It might be worth rereading mine -- kind of like updating one's > will. I stand corrected. I suppose I just assumed Alcor did not ask for instructions because I have never come across any reference to such instructions on their website or elsewhere. >> >> ... The person might want to be revived >> as soon as they can be restored to life and health, but with an aged >> body, or they may prefer to be left in suspension until a cure for >> old age is found. >> >> And we are assuming that a cure will in fact be found. How long might >> the wait be? How long is it reasonable to wait before assuming that a >> cure isn't going to be found? A suspendee might not want to be kept >> in suspension for more than a certain amount of time. They might feel >> that they can 'handle' the possibility of being revived in the year >> 2100 but not the year 2500 or 3000. > > They might -- if you don't know (they didn't leave instructions), > why not reanimate them and ask? If the conditions aren't right, > they can go back into suspension. Well even when revival becomes possible I am sure it will not be something anyone would want to undergo twice. Far better to ask questions before they are suspended the first time. In the book 'Orbit Unlimited' by Poul Anderson a group of people who are fed up with the repressive government of earth decide to colonise a planet of the star e Eridani, 20 light-years from earth. They make the journey with most people in cryonic suspension. During the journey a message is received informing them of a change of government on earth which would give them more freedom to live as they wished. Some people want to return while others want to continue. They can't revive everyone to hold a vote on what to do. They decide to continue their voyage, well aware that some of those in suspension will be furious when they learn what transpired. The information at the disposal of the people who supervise revivals may include a complete record of a suspendee's postings to this and other cryonics-related groups, from which their wishes may be able to be ascertained. To any such person in the future who reads this, remember to have a copy on hand of the album 'Songs of Earth & Sky' by Bill Douglas, to be played whilst I am being revived! :-) >Maybe they'll reevaluate > matters once they're reanimated. They might prefer to be > uploaded, or to be maintained on the 23rd Century's equivalent > of life support, or to think about it using an augmented brain. > Remember, there's risk in being in a dewar. While liquid nitrogen > arrests decay, other things can happen -- legal, political, > sociological, etc. Indeed, there are risks in remaining suspended, risks in the revival process and risks in everyday living. One has to strike a balance between them. >Also, there's lost-opportunity cost -- the > world is going on while you're in a dewar, and the interesting > stuff is happening out here. I don't see any intrinsic value in 'living through' exciting times. I missed the thousands of years of human history that took place before I was born, and I don't really regret that. But that is my personal opinion and I can see that others might take a different view. I will have missed all the bad things as well as the good. How do you think those who were in suspension at the time of 9/11 will react when they learn of it? One historical event I would have liked to see for myself was the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. Just as NSW Premier Jack Lang was about to cut the ribbon, a man called de Groot rode up on a horse and did it for him! Chris Manning Monbulk, Australia Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=29252