X-Message-Number: 31106 From: "Robert Newport" <> Subject: re 31095 Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2008 12:15:21 -0700 Hi: among other things Gary Kline writes. "The structure of society in six or seven score years is another question and you may think it is off-topic; but I see it as part of the sociological equation. Will we inherit a more laissez faire future, or one that is more controlled? That is why I think it would help if we have an Einstein or Gandhi or Abraham Lincoln among us. ... ." I do not think that the 'structure of society' is off topic. In fact, I think that we ought to be addressing this question much more seriously than we have to date. There is no question that all of our hopes and dreams of re-animation are completely dependent upon the structure of society. We have come to this level of technological competence where we can conceive of a medicine which consigns all but a few deaths, to the optional category because we live in a society that values knowledge and competence (for the most part) as well as life and is (for the most part) rational. Not because society is more or less laissez-faire. From time to time humans and human societies, become much less rational, usually in reaction to adverse conditions, frequently ecological in nature. We are now looking at unprecedented rapid ecological changes, coupled with radical financial and social changes. This will result in, as history has demonstrated time and time again, structural changes in society. Whether or not, our society (western civilization) remains rational and committed to increasing our knowledge and technological advancements is in no way certain. The 'Luddites' of the world always lurk just below the surface nourished by the fear of rapid change. I do not have any particular ideas for securing our [cryonic] future, but I had hoped that this forum might be a place where we all can begin to think about what we might do to protect ourselves and our science and technology, in the event of a social/financial meltdown. As I write this it seems as if the financial meltdown is happening. Will our body politic continue to support the research and development that we need? What should we be doing now to protect what we have already accomplished and provide for continued growth? Dr. Robert Content-Type: text/html; [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=31106