X-Message-Number: 7214
Date:  Sat, 23 Nov 96 16:26:16 
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: Too Many?

Recently the question has been raised of whether there 
could be "too many cryonicists." Certainly it is not so today 
with only about 700 signed up and about 70 in suspension 
(this out of five or six billion people worldwide!). But what 
if a great many more signed up and were frozen? Would 
there be "too many" in the sense that future would-be 
resuscitators would decide against rescuing so many peo-
ple, because it would lead to "overpopulation," "cost too 
much," etc?

Some good arguments have been given to the effect that no, 
there wouldn't be too many cryonicists even if many more 
did sign up, and all could reasonably expect revival if it 
proves possible. (That is, if they stay frozen long enough that
this possibility is known.) This I think is likely too. I am optimistic 
that those who will have the say-so in the future, or some of 
them, will commit to resuscitating anybody for which it 
becomes feasible. Here are a few more thoughts, where I've tried 
to look at the larger picture.

One important issue is the nature of who will do the re-
suscitations. I submit that these will *not* be human beings 
as we know them. Resuscitations are not likely to happen 
before aging is cured, at least in most cases, for the simple 
reason that aging is the primary cause of death in the first 
place! Once aging is cured and a few other things are in 
place (the ability to substantially increase one's intelli-
gence, for instance) people won't stay merely human very 
long. The new, more-than-human throng will have its own 
range of values and priorities. Some individuals at least 
(hopefully most or all) will value life and its continuation 
as much as or more than today's immortalist, and will want 
to see persons of the past, who have been preserved in a 
frozen state, resuscitated and rehabilitated as far as possi-
ble. (Of course the desire will not be merely to resuscitate 
people who would remain in human form indefinitely, but 
to help the resuscitees progress to more than human status, 
much as children are raised to adults today.) In general, a 
superhumanly, pro-immortalist orientation should further 
the survival of a being of the future. This will involve not 
only looking out for oneself, but for others too, who will 
then have incentive to reciprocate. Those who want persons 
in general to survive, progress and prosper should do better 
for themselves than those who are more narrowly focused. 
There is reason to hope this orientation may prevail--at 
least it should hold its own.

To such beings it should be important to see that the frozen 
are reanimated and the possible problems warded off. On 
the matter of "cost," for example, there are a number of 
possible remedies. One, which is not guaranteed but seems 
likely to me, is that automation will make the cost near zero 
anyway, much as today we can raise a field of crabgrass (a 
very complicated operation, molecularly and information-
ally speaking) for nothing--nature does it for us. If that 
nanotech dream does not materialize, however, and there is 
a large cost involved, I still think the dedication of some 
more-than-humans will see things through, for reasons of
their own enlightened self-interest. If parents 
today raise children, it should not be impossible that some 
of the future would come to have a special interest in 
rescuing the frozen, who in turn would be something like 
"children," and able, ever thereafter, to interact with their 
"parents" in interesting, rewarding ways.

The biggest difficulty, then, would be for the frozen to stay 
frozen long enough. This is where the cryonics organiza-
tion must play a vital role. For the immediate future, when 
more-than-human status is still unrealized, such organiza-
tions must be the main source of the dedicated individuals 
who will maintain the frozen patients. Such organizations 
will also, I imagine, be primary sources of the more-than-
human, resuscitator mentality, when the good things we 
hope for become possible. Stable and strong organizations, 
then, are essential if we hope to be rescued from a frozen 
state and take our place in a more advanced future.

Mike Perry

http://www.alcor.org


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