Great topic line! A cryonicist migh ask if
that "creeped out" feeling is a rational
attitude or a vestigal superstition,
analogous to being frighened of walking
through a graveyard at midnight?

A cryonicist might also suggest the
following argument: Cryonics is a
persons' BEST BET, given the uncertainty
surrounding issues of life after death.

If materialism turns out to be true, those
who placed their bets on substance
dualism lose big. They are dead with no
chance of being revived. The cyronicist,
who placed his bets on materialism (or
functionalism) being true, may achieve
immortality.

On other hand, if substance dualsim
turns out to be true, what's the worst that
can happen to the cryonicist? Is a loving
or just God going to send him to Hell for
freezing his corpse? So maybe he's in
limbo for a few hundred years--he'll have
all of eternity ahead of him to enjoy.

The cryonicist might also suggest that
while cryonics is based on science
(including some extrapolation of trends in
biotechnology and miniaturization),
substance dualism is typically based on
religious dogma or anecdotal "spiritual"
experiences which can never be
objectively verified. This makes it more
likley that one could become immortal
through cryonics than through the
continued existence of one's supposed
soul.

Finally, a cryonicist might argue that
should he tire of earthly life and want to
explore the hereafter he can do so at his
leisure, and not have death imposed on
him.

Prof. Borrowdale

>I find Socrate's argument
>against the rationality of the
>fear of death very compelling.
>The fact that some people
>would try so hard to flee from
>death confuses me.

Socrates says that death is either an
endless sleep or a transition to a better
life, neither of which are bad. But I think
the "endless sleep" metaphor is
misleading. Sleep is only a good thing
because you feel rested when you wake
up. Sleeping and never waking up
means no longer existing as a person,
which means you will MISS OUT on a lot
of future experiences, projects, goals,
achievements, knowledge, artistic
expression, opportunities to better the
yourself and the world, etc. Isn't death an
evil because of what it DEPRIVES you of?

>On the AP Literature test that
>I took in high school last
>year, there was an interesting
>essay about the effects
>immortality would have on
>humanity. Overpopulation
>aside, humanity would sag
>under the weight of its
>traditions. I like Christmas
>just as much as the next guy,
>but traditions really do
>discourage thought, paradigm
>shift, and open-mindedness.

People who are into cryonics tend to be
mavericks who and less suceptible to the
stodgy traditionalism that often affects
the old. Society may become more
conservative, but wouldn't it also become
more wise?

Prof. Borrowdale
borrowdalej@lanecc.edu
541-463-5434