X-Message-Number: 29673
From: "Chris Manning" <>
References: <>
Subject: Re: Acculturation
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:00:01 +1000

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "CryoNet" <>
To: <>
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 7:00 PM
Subject: CryoNet #29666 - #29670

[snip]

> Message #29667
> From: "" <>
> Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:45:49 GMT
> Subject: Acculturation
>
> There has been a lot of change since Dr. Benford was cryopreserved. By the 
> time he can be revived, there will be a LOT more. Has anyone given any 
> thought as to how he will be "brought up to speed" to avoid future shock? 
> For example, "fast forwarding" him one week a year, first 1967, then 1968, 
> then '69, etc. Or will 2100 just be dropped on him in one swell foop, as 
> the Rev. Spooner would say?
> Tom Mazanec

It's Bedford. Perhaps you are confusing him with Gregory Benford, a science 
fiction writer.

Yes, this acculturation issue will need to be addressed, although I think 
the matter of reviving people in the first place would have to be a higher 
priority.

In the event of my own revival, I would be glad to be provided with, amongst 
other things: a summary of the state of human knowledge in various fields, a 
list of the most important human achievements during my suspension, a 
summary of world events, and some indication as to which of my relatives, or 
their descendants, are living.

I would particularly like the human knowledge list to mention, or give some 
indication of:

- how far humans have progressed beyond Earth (e.g. whether routine human 
habitation of the Moon or Mars or an artificial habitat has been achieved);

- whether any intelligent life has been discovered elsewhere in the 
universe; and

- some mathematical discoveries, e.g. the approximate magnitude of the 
largest known prime number. BTW, 30 years ago it was a number with about 
6,000 digits. The record is currently held by a number with about 10 million 
digits.

Of course it will not be simply a matter of what to tell revivees, but how 
to tell them. How will Dr Bedford, or anyone currently in suspension, react 
when they learn the details of 9/11? How would I react if I were in their 
shoes? There may well be far more terrible events in the future. Perhaps I 
will not want to know. Well, I will want to know, but once told, perhaps I 
will wish that I had not been. 

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