X-Message-Number: 6564 From: Joseph Strout <> Newsgroups: sci.cryonics Subject: Re: About Cryonics and Illiteracy Date: Fri, 19 Jul 1996 12:57:36 -0700 Message-ID: <> References: <4sjcvd$> Olaf Henny asks whether one would be able to cope in a future world, citing difficulties that we might expect Shakespeare or Da Vinci to experience today. First, consider that these folks are no worse off than newborns; in fact, they're probably much better. You didn't know anything about computers or automobiles when you were 1, and yet you cope OK today. Same with patients revived after a long suspension; they may not know much about current technology, but they'll learn, with time. You might object that older people do not learn as rapidly as children. But this difference is much overstated; with the exception of language, adults are just as adept (and often more so) at picking up new material as kids. (Senile dementia is another matter, of course; but that's a disease which would presumably be cured.) Another possible objection is that our patient would already be old, and would not have much time to adapt. But if we have the technology to revive someone in cryonic suspension at all, we'll almost certainly have a means of coping with age and disease. So they should have long, fruitful lives ahead of them, just as anyone born into that age. Plenty of time to learn all about computers or whatever gizmos they have then. Finally, of course, consider that even a confusing life is better than no life at all. One can always go into the mountains and become a hermit -- or, if life is unbearable, commit suicide. (Indeed, *not* making cryonics arrangements because you fear the future is equivalent to committing suicide in advance.) ,------------------------------------------------------------------. | Joseph J. Strout Department of Neuroscience, UCSD | | http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~jstrout/ | `------------------------------------------------------------------' Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=6564