X-Message-Number: 9848
Date:  Tue, 02 Jun 98 23:04:08 
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: Cost of Reanimation

Agreeing with some others, I think it is premature at present to 
make any serious estimate of reanimation cost that would be charged 
as part of one's cryonic suspension fee. Arguably the cost of even a 
very complex procedure will drop substantially in the future, or 
"cost" will be measured differently, perhaps in terms of the time one 
must wait for a process to complete rather than a dollar figure as we 
understand it. On the other hand, in providing funds for one's 
indefinite preservation, with no extra provision for reanimation, a 
safety factor is normally included. Surplus funds should earn 
compound interest, which should accumulate to a sizable sum over 
decades or more. Eventually, this growing amount should be enough to 
offset the cost of reanimation, whatever it may be.

There is some risk associated with being in stasis,
so one might set aside extra funding to *speed* the reanimation 
process as far as possible. My feeling is that, given the difficulty
of any successful reanimation procedure for people preserved by 
today's methods (assuming such a procedure is possible, of course) 
putting aside extra money will probably not make much 
difference. For one thing, I do think the cost of even a very complex 
procedure such as a reanimation process will be small in the future 
due to the sort of automation I expect to develop. Also, I think a 
hard procedure like this will not be developed for awhile, until our 
computational and other technological bases have substantially 
advanced, but with the extra firepower, development will be swift 
when it does come. A procedure then would change quickly from very 
expensive and buggy to boot, to inexpensive and reliable.
This is not to deny that others may feel differently, 
of course, and they can set aside funds as they see fit. 

The picture could change substantially if we were to 
develop a greatly improved method of cryopreservation. Reanimation 
might even become feasible right then, i.e. there could be a real 
procedure with a dollar cost presumably attached. Perhaps this 
reanimation procedure would be quite expensive, though, to the point 
that some would elect to be preserved and *not* set aside funds 
for it (funds they didn't have, say). They
would instead opt to wait it out after cryopreservation, 
hoping either that the cost would drop or, again, their funds 
would increase enough to cover it.

Mike Perry 

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