Re: SciAm: nano and cryonics

From: Robin Hanson (rhanson@gmu.edu)
Date: Thu Aug 16 2001 - 14:46:21 MDT


hal@finney.org wrote:

> Where cryonicists see nanotech as lending credibility to their field,
> the rest of the world sees nanotech's credibility as being destroyed by
> the connection to cryonics. Most people seem to have an strong prejudice
> that cryonics cannot (or should not?) work, and any technology that
> could supposedly make it work becomes instantly suspect. ...

An interesting hypothesis. Let's test it. Has anyone seen strong
anti-nanotech reactions where cryonics was never mentioned?

> I tend to agree with Robert above that ultimately this is due to the
> understanding that if cryonics works, if currently dead people are some
> day brought back to life, then we are all responsible for a holocaust
> beyond imagining.

> (Of course, even most of us signed up for cryonics aren't doing anything
> about it either, and we are the ones who are most likely to have to face
> consequences eventually for our inaction.)

I can't see how people who signed up but did not help others are more
responsible than people who did not sign up and did not help others.



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