X-Message-Number: 8235
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 19:32:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Olaf Henny <>
Subject: Re: Message #8229 from Thomas Donaldson

Re: Message #8229 from Thomas Donaldson

>For Olaf:

>Think, please. Has there EVER been a time in which ALL accidents and other
>threats have been abolished and ALL medical problems could be solved? Sure,
>we can approach that condition asymptotically, but if our lifespans go way
>up an accident after 600 years is going to feel just as limiting as one
>after 20 does now.
>
>The particular methods by which we store people can and will change with time.
>The central reason for cryonics will not: store people when you can't fix
>them. No, nanotechnology will not solve all problems at once, and will 
>probably even create new varieties of accident too... which will need even
>more advanced nanotechnology to fix. 

Thomas, you would be correct on that, if the criterionfor 
revival from cryonic suspension would simply be the medical 
competence to heal the sickness that killed the patient.  But 
when it includes also the ability to control and reverse aging, 
that requires repair capability on the sub-cellular level,  i.e. 
repairing the damage caused previously to mitochondria and cell 
structures by free radicals, as well as probably the replacement 
or extension of the telomeres on each of the chromosomes, a task, 
that may not have to be done by nanotechnology in 'piecework', 
but may well be accomplished much simpler through 'batchwork', by 
triggering the body's own repair mechanisms through chemical 
intervention, such as supplementing and fine-tuning the hormone 
and immune systems to the standard of reconstructive capability 
they possessed, when the body was still in the embryonic and 
early childhood state.  This requires in my opinion a much higher 
degree of sophistication in medical practice than chasing down a 
bunch of bacteria or viruses, which may give us new challenges, 
such as AIDS today.  The capability of fighting and curing all 
diseases, if not acquired earlier, will definitely be part and 
parcel of a technology, which facilitates rejuvination.

>If we are revived it will not be into Heaven. Sure, we'll find lots of 
>wondrous things, but we'll also find new ways of getting damaged, too. It
>goes with the territory. 

I agree, there will be many wondrous technological things 
expecting us, when we are revived, but man with all his qualities 
and failings will still be pretty much the same, and con-men and 
charlatans will flock to the newly revived like grizzlies to the 
salmon run, especially, if some of us have managed to bring 
something with us. ;-)

All the best,

Olaf

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