Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Hi Jackie:
Here is something I picked off the web about our little cyrogenic's
store, and the woman with the missing head. :) It is kinda funny, but
then again it isn't.
We have a long way to go before law catches up with with medicine, IMO.
Sue
Cryonics, the process of freezing human beings after death
in the hope that medical science may be able to revive
them in the future, is an idea that is gaining ground. Saul
Kent wanted to give his eighty-three old, sick mother a
new life. In December of 1988, Dora Kent was taken to the
Alcore Life Extension Foundation in riverside, California.
her head was then cut off and frozen on liquid nitrogen.
This process is called cryonics. The process was based on
the hope that scientist would be able to attach the head to
a new body. It is beiled that Dora Kent was not dead when
they cut off her head. The coroner said that Mrs. Kent was
injected with barbituates which hastened her death. Alcor
officials argue that the barbituates were given to right
after she was clinically dead, to preserve the brain.
COMICrelief.
Cryonics research has improved the understanding of the
effects of low temperature on tissues. According to the
Arrhenius equation, chemical reactions cease at absolute
zero, or zero degrees Kelvin (K). Experiment evidence has
shown, however, that this classical law falls at low
temperatures due to quantum-mechnical effects that allow
items to tunnel through actication barriers to form
complex molecules.
In conlusion, cryogenics is a new and exciting field that
has yet to be fully explored. In today's world, we are
trying to see if we can reanimate people in the future. As
of now I think this is not a good idea. Researcher's have
not yet decieded whether crogenics would be a true
restoration of a person's being or merley a reanimation of
a physical body.
Questions and answers:
Is Cryogenics constant with Christanity?
All religions teach that life in this world has a purpose and
a value. The Christian denominations in particular teach
that improving the condition and length of human life in
this world are of great importance. Indeed, all of the
miraculous acts of Jesus which serve as the vindication of
his divinity were aimed at improving the temporal human
condition: feeding the hungry masses, healing the sick, and
raising the dead. In Matthew 10:8, Jesus commanded his
disciples to go forth and do as he had done.
In most versions of Christianity, someone who refused
medical care for a treatable injury or illness would not be
considered either very rational or very conscientious in
their religious duties. The point is that life has a purpose
here and now and there is nothing wrong with acting to
extend and enhance that life if it is lived morally and well.
What if
they repair the freezing damage (and install a new body, in
the case of neurosuspension), and the resulting being acts
and talks as though it were me, but it isn't really me?
The answer to this obviously depends on which notion of
person-equality you subscribe to. If we use the definitional
approach, then someone who behaves identically to you is
you. Dealing with the other approaches is left as an
exercise for the reader.
Are the frozen people dead?
Using the definitions in the glossary, they are legally and
clinically dead but they may or may not have reached
information-theoretic death, depending on how memory is
stored in the brain and how much this is affected by
freezing damage. A person who has been cremated is dead
in all senses of the word. People who have been buried and
allowed to decompose are also dead. People can only
legally be frozen after they are legally dead.
Definitions
Cryogenics
The study of materials at very low temperatures (near absolute
zero). Cryogenics is a branch
of physics.
Cryobiology
The study of the effect of low temperatures (below the freezing
point of water) on biological
systems. A primary goal of this field is the preservation and long
term storage of organ
systems such as hearts, kidneys, etc. for use in transplantation.
This goal has not yet been
reached and currently only individual cells and organisms
consisting of only a very few cells
(such as embryos) can be successfully treated, stored, and revived.
Suspended animation
This term refers to the ability to start and stop, at will, a
biological system (usually a person)
through some physical means (usually the use of cold temperatures).
Suspended animation
does not currently exist.
Cryonic suspension
A (currently non-standard) medical technique for attempting to
prevent the permanent
cessation of life in individuals on the brink of death. It involves
the use of low temperatures to
halt metabolic decay. A person who is cryonically suspended can not
be revived by current
medical technology. The freezing process does too much damage. What
is accomplished is
that once frozen the person's biological state does not change. The
reason for performing a
cryonic suspension is the belief that science, technology, and
society will advance to the point
where revival of the person is both possible and desirable.
Cryonics
A branch of science that aims to develop reversible suspended
animation. Until suspended
animation is achieved, most cryonicists favor the use of cryonic
suspension as a last ditch
effort for people whose medical options have run out.
>
> Hi Sue
>
> I don't know whether to laugh or shake my head on this. This sounds like
>reincarnation
> without having to enter another organism and they are making sure they can be
> reincarnated.
>
> Can't take credit for the psychic ability <bg>. I think this exercise came out of
> discussions some of us were having, but sure enough the next edition of a sexuality
>book
> had one very similar. Guess social scientists minds run in the same direction at
>times
> <g>
>
> I think we are going to see a lot more of this type of questions being asked about
>the
> role of technology in our lives. A lot of demand is being placed on having ethics
> courses in all the colleges and making them a required course for many fields. I am
> talking about in addition to the general philosophy course that looks at morality
> issues.
>
> jackief
--
May the leprechauns be near you to spread luck along your way. And may
all the Irish angels smile upon you this St. Patrick's Day.
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