X-Message-Number: 1560 Date: 08 Jan 93 18:09:05 EST From: "A.J. Clifford" <> Subject: CRYONICS : re Unlimited Suffering John Eastmond raises the possibility of cryonics patients being revived into a living Hell. I think that every cryonicist has considered this but there are a lot of comforting counter-arguments. Firstly, revival from cryonic suspension requires very advanced technology and a lesson of human history is that technology requires a special environment to show real year-on-year advancement. That environment is a combination of many things: capitalism (includes established corporations, stock market, currency market, R&D programs, international trade, banking, property and raw materials and insurance markets); infrastructure (includes telephone, road, electricity, airline, rail, shipping networks); vast educated workforces produced by schools and universities; entrepreneurs financed by venture capital; All of the above needs to be fostered by judicially accountable, relatively stable, government. Without them a civilization's advanced technological development would be achieved much more slowly and may even plateau. This occurred in the Roman Empire where technology was little changed in 1100 years. (Interestingly, inflation in the 90 years to 40 A.D. was about 25% in total. Infintesimal. Considering these were the golden years of the empire.) Another example of decelerating technological advancement is the Soviet Union in the second half of this century. It would follow that societies that do not respect Human Rights, Orwellian dictatorships, where individuals could be subjected to living Hell are very unlikely to attain advanced technology because of their very nature. It concludes that suffering imposed on a cryonics revivee in an advanced society would be illegal. The people or organizations responsible would eventually be brought to justice. And what would they have gained? It wouldn't be logical. Secondly, the 20th Century is not exactly the safest place anyway. There are political prisoners in Burma, North Korea, Iran, Libya etc who would really know what "ultimate suffering" is all about. During the 1991 Shi'ite uprising in Iraq prisons were opened. In one case the rebels found men who had been locked up underground in complete darkness for 20 years! One only has to think of Brian Keenan, Thomas Sutherland and others who were kidnapped in Beirut to remember that terrible things don't just happen to people of the Third World. Thirdly, the nightmare scenario of living Hell for cryonics revivees is in principle no different to the thoughts that we all scare ourselves with from time to time. Imagine returning (alone) from the midnight screening of Evil Dead or The Howling and then walking home taking a shortcut through the park... I know my imagination would run riot! The process of cryonic revival is a promise of a much better future, not one to be feared. Regards, Andrew Clifford Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=1560