X-Message-Number: 805 Date: Mon, 4 May 92 20:47:09 -0600 From: tolman% (Kenneth Tolman) Subject: CRYONICS Alright, you are all signed up to travel through time into the future when your time comes along. Unfortunately, some people you really like to be around aren't going to be there, unless you do something about it. If cryonics works, should you consider "converting" people? Most every person that has tried to convert me (to any cause) has been most annoying and turned me off of what they were trying to say. Now I can understand why they were so persistant and annoying though. Interesting dilemma. I am curious what other people think about this. However for now, I will present an investment argument: Basically, you consider what your life is worth per hour. Then you consider the probability of coming back, and the number of hours that you get when you come back. If you get back more money than you invested, it is a wise investment. It turns out to be a wise investment for even a very pessimistic person..... Life per hour: Ask yourself how much you would have to be paid now to be willing to automatically die in 5 years. Lets say this was 10 million dollars. (If you are "priceless" and won't do it pick a suitably large number) Now figure out your life expectancy (72-age) and then from this calculate the number of hours you should have left. Take that 10 million and divide it by number of hours. Mine is: 49*365*24= 429240 hours left for 10 million dollars is 23.3 dollars an hour. I will expect my chance of revival to be 1/100 (pessimistic person) The cost of neurosuspension is $50,000 (upper bound) So I better get back 50,000*100 = 5*10^6 dollars or 21459 hours or 8941 days or 24 and a half years. Thus, if my chances are any better than 1/100 (I think they are) OR if I may get back more than 25 years (I plan to live 10,000 years at least) than it is a good investment! Even a very pessimistic person will realize the investment potential. Unfortunately this argument will only work if you are talking to a logical person, and when a conversation turns to death most people stop all logical processes. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=805