X-Message-Number: 1574
Date: 10 Jan 93 23:24:24 EST
From: STEPHEN BRIDGE <>
Subject: CRYONICS neuropreservati

>From Steve Bridge
In response to Msg #1570 from Charles Platt ("Mentioning
Neurosuspension")
 
     In the past ten years I have given at least 50 talks, plus many
interviews on cryonics.  Sometimes neurosuspension is discussed,
sometimes not.  I rarely bring it up myself because, as you say, the
sensationalism of the idea frequently overwhelms the basic concept of
cryonics and leads to articles with headlines about "head-freezers"
instead of about "people who love life."
 
     I agree that the concept should be avoided on a one-half-hour
long TV show for housewives.  There isn't enough time to deal with
even the basic concepts of cryonics, much less Neurosuspension.
 
     When you do lectures, however, and the question comes up, it
still must be answered.  The most economical answer I have come up
with over the years is this:
 
     ---  Most people will accept that our memory and personality is
in our brain.  (NOT ALL; if they insist that the rest of the body
counts, simply point out that whole-body suspension is an option.)  It
is obvious to most people that placing a brainless body into cryonic
suspension is not sufficient to result in the revival of the original
person.
 
    ---  Point out that cryonic suspension is a difficult business
with difficult surgery.  Under the circumstances, most people feel
that the most attention should be placed on procedures which mean the
most protection for the brain.  Some people feel that Neurosuspension
provides that protection.
 
    ---  The real reason people wonder about Neurosuspension is that
they think we plan to revive people as brains on a table or as heads
on a stick ("Please take Uncle Herman's Head for a walk now, dear.")
Point out that we think it will be possible to "simply" (what a word)
grow the person a new body from his own cells.  The kind of advanced
technology required to repair individual cells should be able to
handle turning on cell growth again.  After all, we DID all begin as
one cell (incidentally, older people who had biology before 1940 (if
at all) may NOT know that we started as one cell), and that cell
figured out how to grow into us once.
 
    ---  I also point out that children under the age of about nine
can regrow the tip of a finder if it is cut off (I've even seen one
example).  It does not take too much imagination to think that within
20 years we might be able to regrow an entire missing finger.  if we
can regrow a finger, we can regrow an arm.  If we can regrow an arm,
it is only slightly more complicated to grow a body.
 
     The length of this answer is, of course, NOT economical for a
one-half hour TV show, especially when Charles will be one of a large
number of guests.
 
     Steve Bridge

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