X-Message-Number: 16682 From: "Trygve Bauge" <> Subject: Fw: Trygve's response to Alan Sinclair. Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 20:33:29 +0200 Alan Sinclair wrote: >It is one thing being dug if you have, given cryonics a great deal of > thought over the years, >signed up well in advance and are dedicated to being suspended. I know of many cryonic cases that were arranged post mortem, by the next of kin, without the departed ever knowing that he or she would be frozen. What about those murder victims that have been frozen? What about most of the foreign residents presently in cryonic suspension in the United States? I can recall 5 cases, and there probably are many more. >Although the chances of revival would still be almost zero I personally > would still wish >to take a chance but to expect any cryonics organisation to suspend a > person >when the relatives are in the midst despair after loosing a loved one and > that person had been buried, >when we know the chances of recovery are so small would look like > exploitation >and be political suiside. What about the autopsied cases that still have been frozen? or the case where Alcor wasn't even sure if the sliced brain was included in what they received from Spain? There is one practical solution to this: A) Thoroughly communicating with the relatives, so to be sure these know what they are getting themselves into. Herein raising all objections that possibly can be raised (That is one reason why I have been posting the case to Cryonet, so that everyone there would get a chance to warn Elizabeth Kostadinova not to have her father frozen!) B) Arranging to store the body temporarily, inexpensively e.g. on dry ice, until the next of kin has got the death at some distance. So that they don't take on any heavy expenses (like new dewars) until 3 to 6 months after the death. If they then still want to go ahead, then they can then pay for a storage dewar and long run storage, otherwise the body will then by prior contract be returned to the relatives. Any existing cryonics organization with excess dewar space could offer a trial period of 1 year, with the money for long run storage to be in escrow, and so that this was paid back to the family after one year if the family then didn't want to continue the experiement. Then their total cost would just be straight freezing, shipping and one year storage, which probably adds up to less than USD $20,000 Even when people have lost their loved ones, they still have the right to make decissions for themselves, and they can still make rational decissions. Cryonisists should be careful not to argue otherwise. I for one does not want society to make burial decissions for me. Sincerely, Trygve Bauge Ps. You might ask Elizabeth if she feels exploited by cryonisists in general or by me in particular? Or maybe she is more offended by all the doors that are slammed in her face by others (all dead set at letting him rot) that want to make her decissions for her? Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=16682