X-Message-Number: 8748 Date: Sun, 9 Nov 1997 11:31:21 -0500 (EST) From: Charles Platt <> Subject: Provable reversible cryopreservation On Sun, 9 Nov 19997 Thomas Donaldson wrote: > Furthermore, fully perfected suspended animation will not solve most of > our problems with cryonics. In the first place, it could only be used > on people who were still alive, though they suffered from some conditions > for which a cure could not be found. What about people found dead 5 minutes > after they ceased breathing and heartbeat? Thomas, I suppose I have to believe you are sincere, but your long list of quibbles (most of which snipped here) seems an attempt to distract from the obvious #1 issue, merely for the sake of argument. Suppose heart surgery had a 100-percent mortality rate. Then someone comes along and refines the process so that it now has a 10-percent mortality rate. Would you respond in this case by saying, "Of course this won't solve most of our problems with heart disease."? You may object that this is not a good analogy since even under current conditions, cryonics may turn out to save some lives. But this is irrelevant. Rightly or wrongly, most people (99.99 percent of the population) believe that cryonics _is_ 100 percent fatal; that cryonics patients are DEAD, period. As soon as you can prove otherwise (instead of making endless hopeful, vague statements), the procedure moves from being totally speculative (and unconvincing) to being a viable alternative to mortality. Yes, it will still involve risks. But every medical procedure involves risks. (You know this better than I do.) Yes, people will still die in ways that prevent them from receiving a good cryopreservation. But this was not my point. My point was that provably reversible cryopreservation will totally change the public perception of cryonics, at which point the problem will not be lack of growth, the problem will be how to deal with the huge new wave of people wanting to sign up. Lastly, you suggest that 5 minutes of warm ischemia is fatal. Earlier this year, at 21st Century Medicine, I watched a dog successfully resuscitated after 15 minutes of warm ischemia, with no measurable subsequent neurological damage. This is one example of the benefits that can be reaped from research. --Charles Platt Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=8748