X-Message-Number: 18178 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 07:32:41 -0500 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: more for Ms Ekland Again for Ms Eklund: Actually your questions have the merit that we must think out how to reply to questions from those not familiar with cryonics. I and others have already pointed out that we want to revive YOU and must therefore find a way to revive (or restore) your brain. This can be complex, because the degree of damage can vary and will probably always vary. If the very best suspended animation done not by freezing but by vitrification, then the problem of restoring your brain will have been solved. On the other side, your brain may have been damaged, and in the worst case messed up by autopsy. I do not know if the worst cases will ever be revivable, but if asked I can come up with some facts that suggest that at some future time it might become possible. At least for those cryonic societies with which I am familiar, YOU rather than the cryonic society give the criteria beyond which you are to be thought unrevivable. In practical terms, it turns out to be advantageous to set those criteria very far out: who wants to be destroyed only to learn that 3 centuries later they worked out how to revive someone in exactly his/her condition? The issue of what will happen to you ie. who will care for you has its own complexities too. So far, after some initial failures, societies have remained quite stable. However if something went wrong with your original society, I believe others would try to step in. So that you just might find yourself revived by a different society than the one that suspended you. I personally would like to see some formal agreements here, but so far this hasn't happened. Eventually it will. Best wishes and long long life to all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18178