h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"The chances of being 'revived' after physical death are as close to nil as make no odds."

You may be correct about that in the context of cryonic suspension*, but I just don't think there is any way of knowing that for certain short of trying - I'd just rather not be in the control group of that clinical trial.

Many people are alive today who would have had no chance of being alive just 50 years ago. Medical science is constantly pushing back the boundaries of what was considered to be hopeless. Who is to say that future medical technologies (based on nanotechnology for instance) won't be able to (revive) cases of physical death way beyond present day's medical technology's ability - akin to magic?

I suspect that the odds are actually much higher than nil.

"It is more likely that we will find a 'cure' for death first,"

If you consider the damage done by suspension as just additional damage to be repaired then reviving cryonically suspended people and curing them would only be a question of degree (no pun intended) of death.

Would it be okay then for people who are lucky enough to live until that cure to live "forever" but not for those who just missed the deadline?

"To have ANY chance of being brought back to life, a body would have to be frozen before it physically died, and in a reasonably good condition, if it were to withstand the revival process. In other words, a healthy living person would have to choose to be cryogenically frozen."

Not so necessarily.

Granted the better the condition of the body frozen before death the less damage there will be to repair. A lot will depend on the circumstances of the death of the person to be suspended (brain death? amount of time lapsed before suspension...).

The fact is that the only thing that is impossible is to tell whether or not we will be able to revive suspended people in the future. Quite a few reputable scientists have given very credible explanations as to why it is theoretically possible for future medical technology to do so. Quite a few others (probably quite a few more than the former), also reputable, say it is highly unlikely.

Given the record of predictions of what would and wouldn't be possible in the future and what actually happened I wouldn't be quite so brave as to say it is impossible.

Remember, the whole idea of being frozen is a GAMBLE on the emergence in the future of technologies able to repair "death" and the effects of cryonic suspension. A long-shot perhaps but consider this:

Four possibilities:
You choose to be suspended -
a) Revival succeeds: You're alive
b) Revival Fails: You're still dead and lose your life insurance policy

You choose not to be suspended -
a) Revival is possible: You're still dead
b) Revival Fails: You're still dead

"If the process were possible, and the participant did survive, this brings forth many other questions. Why would anyone want to revive this person in the future?"

The question shouldn't pertain to "anyone". The question would be why would the custodians of the frozen person want to revive this person. They would do so because that would be their responsibilty as per the contract they entered in with that person. They agreed to revive you when it became possible and thus have that obligation. It's still a gamble though.

"Who would pay for the treatment? As the participant would be frozen/technically dead, their estate would long since have been dissolved. Of course, if they were very rich and very trusting, they could invest some money for that day in the future, but what are the odds of their financial representative (or whoever may take over from them eventually) 1) being wholly reliable in the task they have been set, and 2) investing the money wisely enough to ensure sufficient funds are available."

Good question. The answer is that the money doesn't come from your estate. The money that was intially paid to the Cryonic institution that suspended you (usually from a life insurance policy) would fund:
1) The initial suspension
2) up keep and maintenance of your cryonic suspension chamber
3) research into better suspension processes and rersearch towards revival.
4) maintaining the financial health of the institution
5) your eventual revival when the time comes

Also note that you don't need to be a millionaire to be able to afford the life insurance premiums that would pay for your suspension. These life insurance policies could be purchased at quite reasonable rates.

"What point would there be in being revived x number of years in the future?"

From your own perspective... because, for whatever reason, you wanted to be.

From someone else's perspective... who knows? perhaps none, perhaps quite a few.

I'd point out that it is quite plausible that it would not necessarily be hundreds of years before the revival of suspended persons becomes possible. One could expect that it would become possible in less than hundred years or in the life-time of one's own children. They might take an active interest in your revival.

"Admittedly, awaking to a world powered by solar radiation, where space travel to other planets (to visit relatives living in biospheres there) is normal, and where science has obviously moved on a tremendous deal, would have an initial novelty value, but the newness would soon wear thin."

Well that's not a bad stab at why a person would want to come back (particularly if you always wanted to space travel). With a bit more imagination you could see a fascinating future with many of our present day life-times worth of things to explore and do.

"Also, being an adult (presumably) and trying to come to terms with all you don't know about 'modern life' would be frustrating in the least, and quite probably soul-destroying. To say you would be out of place is not simply an understatement - imagine being the equivalent of a chimpanzee to your advanced relatives."

It might be mind-boggling. It certainly might be very hard to handle for some. Then again it might not. One could certainly expect those who revived you to have planned some kind of a reaclimatization process.

It would certainly be harder for a person born say 500 years ago than for denizens of modern cities. Let's not sell ourselves short on our ability to adjust... especially those people with the mind-set to chose to undergo cryonic suspension.

"Does anyone have the right to this kind of immortality? is it really a good thing anyway?"

Why not? It certainly works for me as long as I can choose to end it if I like.

"For my part, I would not want to live forever."

The operative part of this sentence being 'for my part'. For my part, I wouldn't mind having the option. How about just another 100 years and we'll see from there?

"Immortality, and the consequences of it, do not bare consideration."

What does this mean?

"Death may be frightening to some, but for those who have borne children (and grandchildren and so on), they will never really die. Our ancestors are joint, if only we could trace them back far enough. Even if we do not bear children ourselves, our descendants and relatives are out there, continuing the circle of life."

Sounds like a somewhat Disneyesque rationalization of surrender to death to me. Personally, I'd like to get to know my great-great grandchildren.

Fear of death might not be the only reason to choose "cryonic suspension"... what about plain old "curiosity" about what the future has in store for Us?

"What purpose, what good, can come of any particular indivual's immortality?"

What purpose, what good do you need? It might be a good thing to bring me back... I'm told I'm a nice guy

"We are born to die, and we have choices to make about what we do with the time in between."

We aren't born to die. We are born to live. We are destined to die. We can still make these choices whether we die 50 or 500 years from now.

"To me, the best I can do with my life is to improve the life of someone/something else, and the greatest personal satisfaction I can gain is in knowing I have done so. I am not afraid to die, if I can feel I have achieved something for my fellow man, beast or planet."

I can certainly agree with that. Can't one choose to live that way whether his life is cryonically extended or not?

"I am curious about what the future holds, but I know so little of the present or past, that it is not for me to know the future too."

I am very curious about the past, the present, and the future.

"Now there is a truly frightening thought - to know what the future holds."

On the contrary... what an exciting thought ! We might just have a shot at seeing the future if we choose to.

* As I understand it:
Cryogenics: is the branch of physics that studies the phenomena that occur at very low temperatures.

Cryonics: is a medical technique that involves cooling patients to the point where molecular physical decay is stopped with the expectation that advances in science and medical technology will one day be able to revive them and restore them to good health.

Lets say you are revived, you had better have a personality that can adapt quickly, hopefully you are a person who makes freinds easyly, and also, I believe you should be rather intelligent so as to allow you to learn, and share what you know widely, perhaps in the future they will be interested in certian parts of our culture that have dissapeared, (IE Demolition man, though not extreamly believeable) ALl violence is gone, or perhaps we loose certian types of art, (music seems to be going that way... ) You could share your knowlege and help future generations remember their past, our present. You may even have a spark in your mind from somthing you once saw on TV, or used, that seems to have dissapeared, such as, say... a gadget from james bond, perhaps you could make it a possability in the future, though I only offer this as a vauge opinion, I have not enough time to write all that I am thinking, I am sorry if it seems incomplete. You know, Stasis or cyrotechnology, may offer what we all want, More time to see the world, think, and expand our earthly knowlege.