X-Message-Number: 18 From xuucp Thu Sep 15 12:58 EDT 1988 >From uvacs.cs.virginia.edu!cfh6r Thu Sep 15 12:37:49 EDT 1988 remote from arpa Received: from uvacs-slip.cs.Virginia.EDU by uvaarpa.virginia.edu id aa25321; 15 Sep 88 12:36 EDT Received: by uvacs.cs.virginia.edu (5.51/5.1.UVA) id AA15328; Thu, 15 Sep 88 12:37:49 EDT Date: Thu, 15 Sep 88 12:37:49 EDT From: "Carl F. Huber" <> Posted-Date: Thu, 15 Sep 88 12:37:49 EDT Message-Id: <> To: Subject: CRYONICS Status: RO Kevin, Here are a few questions and topics I am concerned, interested in. I would like to have and to hear some discussion regarding the individual and mass psychology of life extension and time travel. I see the issues as centering around economics, and the primary question is, how do we decide who gets to go? When the time comes that cryonic (or other) life extension is made possible, and the issue is no longer 'if', what will be the sentiment of the (I predict) many people who will not have the privilege, due to financial circumstances. You pointed out that the cost of cryonic suspension compares favorably with the cost of a heart transplant, but I don't think they are really in the same league. Heart transplants mostly save people who are dying 'prematurely', as measured by today's typical life span, and do not allow people to live beyond what is still a normal life expectancy, if that. Also, the people who can benefit from a heart transplant are still a large minority of the population. When significant life _extension_ becomes possible, almost everyone in the world would at least be eligible by physical capacity to benefit from it. So the questions and issues are : 1. How do we decide who get's life extension, assuming everyone can't? 2. How will people feel about those who get to go? This includes the people of the future who are around when cryons are waking up. How will these people feel about those who got life extension in the past, are here now, but they themselves can't go? 3. How will cryons (what are they called, anyway?) fit into the future society? What will their obligations be, if any? How will they take care of themselves, make a living, etc.? (Historians?) What will their psychological obstacles be in associating with people of the future? Will their old fashioned notions of how the world works be a problem? What should they do before they go to prepare for their arrival? Well, that may be enough for now. My general tack should be evident from these questions. I have heard a great deal about the possibility and feasibility of life extension, and I don't have any doubts about that. I believe the next important thing, before the technology becomes completely available, is to prepare for it. -cheers, Carl Huber [ Carl, thanks for the questions. I'll have to think about these for a few days before offering any replies. Has anyone else thought through any of these issues? - Kevin Q. Brown ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18