X-Message-Number: 26396
Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2005 09:41:12 -0400
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: cryonics, religion, and medicine

TO Brian Wowk:

You're entirely correct that cryonics should be seen as a version of
medicine rather than a form of religion. However the idea of cryonics
is now more than 40 years old, and because cryonics patients must
still be declared legally dead before their suspension, cryonics
automatically becomes involved with forms of death and so religion,
whether or not we want they. We'd all want to know what to do about that
situation. And yes, some people have suggested that we go along with it
and set up a cryonics religion. Various other ideas have come up.
Perhaps if cryonics groups tried all of the various ideas we might
find that one or a few actually work.

Moreover, cryonics isn't really like any form of CONTEMPORARY
medicine. First, essential to cryonics is the idea of suspending
people for whom a revival isn't assured. Contemporary medicine
does not look at what might happen in the whole future history of
our medical abilities, but only the shortsighted ideas of what
might be done with a patient in the very near future. Nor will
there ever come a time in which we know how to repair someone
from whatever happens to him or her. You are yourself a Doctor
(notice the capitalization), so by existing you prove that not
all doctors believe in contemporary medicine, but many still do.

For that matter, the ability to do suspended animation isn't
the same as cryonics, either. Cryonics involves the use of 
suspended animation to preserve patients whose future cure
remains unknown... once we can vitrify and revive someone,
we'll still face the problem of acceptance of cryonics by others,
and ideally by many more doctors.

          Best wishes and long long life for all,

               Thomas Donaldson

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