X-Message-Number: 3884 From: Brian Wowk <> Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 16:22:08 CST Subject: pain Marty Nemko writes that the human brain is a very delicate system, with many more ways to go wrong than right, and then asks about the likelihood of cryonics patients waking with chronic pain as a result of things not being quite right. For many reasons, I believe this is a misplaced concern. Let me begin by asking Marty whether he would want anyone to bother calling an ambulance after he was involved in an auto accident today. After all, a significant percentage of auto accident victims do suffer life-long neurological injury, physical impairment, and, yes, chronic pain. But wouldn't you at least want a shot at getting better, instead of throwing the towel in from the very start? How do you know how things will turn out unless you at least give medicine a chance? How do you know your new life will not be worth living without even trying? How do you know future developments (like spinal cord regeneration) will not improve your quality of life unless you hang in there and see? Enough of the 20th century. Now let's talk about your ambulance ride to the 22nd century (cryonics). If and when it ever becomes possible to revive you, it will only be possible because medicine has come to understand how the human body works down to virtually every last molecule. The molecular roots of health, disease, pain, pleasure will be completely understood. Quite frankly, the chances of you waking up in pain are about as likely as you waking up in a hospital today with your foot sutured onto your head. Remember that cryonics is a last-in-first-out (LIFO) process. People preserved with the most advanced (least injurious) technology will be revived first, and people preserved with the crudest (most injurious) technology will be revived last. If and when today's cryonics patients are revived, they will be the beneficiaries of at least 100 years of medical and social experience with the revival of cryonics patients. Marty, DON'T WORRY SO MUCH! :) ---Brian Wowk Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=3884