(Poll) Freezing Yourself for the Future?
 

Humans Thawed Out!
Tomorrow morning, Humansicle Corp Inc calls a press conference that stuns the world. They froze five humans back in 1972 and they just thawed out today, 40 years later. The "Frozen Five", as the press soon dubs them, appear unaffected and say it was just like sleeping. The world is, of course intrigued but also doubtful. The company says they have nothing to hide and welcome the scrutiny as they know it will be big publicity for them going forward.

The Science
Over the next few year, the scientific community examines the results and can't find any flaws. There's no hint of scandal and the claims seem legitimate. The technology seems sound: backup generators, perfect freezing, etc. There's no appearance of a bad science fiction plot where the humans start degrading at a faster pace genetically and they aren't clones or anything like that. The science appears to be sound but we can't know for sure for another 50+ years and we see how the Frozen Five live. As part of their agreement with Humansicle Corp, they agreed to independent routine medical exams every 3 months as well as extra comprehensive tests yearly to keep transparency.

The People
The thawed people seem a bit awkwardly adjusted with their 70s ways of doing things, they become instant celebrities, as one would expect in today's culture. They act and appear just as a normal human but seem a little fish out of water. On the one hand, they marvel at some of the new technological innovations we have like computers and cell phones and the internet. On the other hand, they're a little surprised we aren't more advanced than we are with the same reliance on fossil fuels with little advancement on the fronts of alternative energy and overpopulation.

Finances
Their money at the time was invested by Humansicle Corp in an exotic financial instrument that acts like a tax-exempt 401k. In short, the money they had then is a bit more than back then. Basically, it allows them to maintain the same lifestyle they had at the time they were frozen plus have enough money to spend the next 10 years getting training and back into the workforce. The couple who were close to retirement age won't have to work again. However, 25 year old Gerald went to University of Texas and now works for an IT company in Austin. As for your house, etc, for a small fee, Humansicle Corp will maintain any property you had and it will be no worse or better than when you left. However, they strongly recommend you sell your land and belongings and get the money plus interest and buy a new house in your future time as locations that were desirable 40 years ago will likely no longer be.

The Frozen Five
*61 and 63 year old Gladys and Robert Williams - a Philadelphia couple who couldn't have children so they left no surviving family behind
*52 year old Walter Smith - a widowed factory worker from Dayton who had lost his wife and son in a car crash in the late 60s and was searching for a new purpose in life
*34 year old Shirley Masters - a single dreamer from San Francisco who wanted to see what the future was like
*25 year old Gerald Goodman - a Vietnam draftee disenchanted from Atlanta by the 1970s who wanted to see a better future

Would You?
So, now it's 2020 and Humansicle Corp opens up the next round. They don't want to expand the technology too quickly. However, you know someone who knows someone who can get you on the list. For a fee that is 10% of current annual earnings, you plus an additional person (if you choose) could be frozen and then unthawed at one of the following points in history: 2100, 2200, 2500, 3000, and 5000.

There are a couple of caveats, of course. One: they've never frozen anyone longer than 40 years. If your body starts degrading, they will wake you up. If they lose power to the facility and run below 20% electricity there, they will wake you up. If it's a really bad time, they will not wake you up. So, for instance, if there was a global nuclear war in 2099 and the facility survives, they will wait until the world stabilizes and wake you up in, say, 2120 instead of 2100. Two: the arrangements are as stated above for finances, etc. No one can know what the future will hold so it's risky. They will try to do what is best but there's no guarantees on the future.

Would you chance it?

(Inspired by Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Mars - Curiousity (& Phoenix, Spirit, Opportunity) and countless sci fi)

SI

HELLA YES!!!

The only question for me would be picking which end-date. I went 3000 as 2500 seems too close and 5000 seems too far.

I would miss my family though.

Hmm...can't find anything on Google about this...

So, I don't have kids. If my wife died, I think I'd strongly consider it. I'd greatly miss my parents and sister and grandparents (they will probably be gone in the next 10 years- grandparents, I mean) and that's what would really hold me back. Otherwise, why not?

SI

(This is fictional)

SI

Shit, so I shouldn't have just canceled my cable?

Nah, I'll pass.

Been getting steadily worse for a long time already, can't begin to fathom how bad it would be in 80 years (if it's still around at all).

I went with live life at its own pace. I hope I am never at a point when all my family is dead and I want to grow old, see my children grow up and have children, etc... and hope I die peacefully with generations of my family by my side

I'm barely competent to handle the era in which I live.

Freezing myself for 40 years would probably be disastrous.

Not interested in freezing myself - that doesn't prolong your life or particularly increase the value of your experiences imho.

I'd be interested in enhancing my body (nanobots anyone?) and suchlike however ...

;)

Never really thought about it, but while new advances and such are cool, on one hand I wouldn't want to leave my family behind. Even if somehow they all died, I don't think that I would want to gamble with the rest of my life. Maybe if I had a terminal illness with death being imminent it would be worthwhile...at that point there wouldn't seem to be much downside risk.

I'm down. I'd prefer 2400 though, so I can have a buddy,


And a girl,



And perhaps they can sexy me up a bit,

That's the thing: in 500 years, we'll either have killed ourselves or significantly increased our lifespans, I suspect.

There is always that danger of "what if we've destroyed ourselves?"

SI

And by "sex you up", you mean give you aluminum foil clothes because you already look like that otherwise, amirite?

SI

Couldn't leave my wife and kids. If I were single, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

What if you could take them with you?

He's got more hair on his nipples than I do on my whole body, And i've got twice the body.

Some of our biggest problems are those that have always been: war, poverty, famine, disease. One could argue we're getting better and worse at each. Finances are much better than they were, say, 500 years ago for all except the super rich. But so many of these problems persist: we had a world war less than 100 years ago the likes of which couldn't have been imagined by someone 500 years ago and we have weapons that could destroy the world thousands of times over. Life expectancy is way up but there are still diseases we can't conquer and the maximum age for people hasn't moved much (i.e. there have been 100 year olds for a long time but we don't have 150 or 200 year olds walking around). We feed so many people in the world: over 6B but we still have 1B or more who cannot feed.

Then there are new problems: environmental issues where if you stack 7B people on a planet, small behaviors are amplified. We need a better way to make electricity when it was something barely understood 200 years ago. Think of the future: we're in the infancy of understanding human anatomy. It's in the last 100 years that we've figured out what DNA is. Just 100 years from now, what kind of ethical decisions will we be facing with cloning or combating genetic illness. Or how about how we understand the structure of an atom or history of the universe: we're still a long way from a "complete" understanding, much less being able to harness our knowledge. "Goddamn Jupiter colony bastards, trying to blow up Earth": I mean, geez, we only talk about wiping out human life on the planet but at some point, we'll be able to wipe out whole planets or solar systems. Or imagine the Planetary Emperor debates: "I hate John Jackson. If we keep exploring Galaxy Epsilon like he advocates, some aliens are going to see us and try to take us over"

SI

You left out the "Only if my wife *isn't* going to do it, too." option.

I would be concerned that they were doing things the 80s way when they were frozen in the early 70s.

Whoops- edited. One of the things I did was change it from 30 years to 40 years but forgot to change that part

SI

I said 2100 at first, thinking that by then lifespans should have increased a lot more and it would be cool to see where technology goes next while having at least a tiny chance that I can still comprehend some of it.

Also, we'll have flying cars by then, right?

For me there'd be zero doubt about doing it, its just picking the time to come back that'd be the issue.

Don't look behind the curtain (you'll discover the unfortunate temporary thawing incident)

Hah, SI. No editing!

Other here -- looks like I'm the first one. I'm voting no, but not for any of the reasons listed.

Rather, I simply don't see any benefit to doing this, other than novelty and adventure. The only way I'd really feel differently is if I have an incurable ailment and believe that it will be treatable at some point in the future.

Otherwise, I see no benefits. If humanity continues its current progression, I will no doubt be physically and mentally inferior in the future with little hope for success other than as a freak show candidate. Even if I'm 60 years old and only want to play golf all day, chances are my fellow retirees will be a club or two longer than me.

If humanity doesn't continue its current progression, it seems like the future wouldn't be worth saving.

I don't see any benefit to going into the future if the ability to travel back is not an option. I'd rather invest in a time machine than cryonics.

What about the odds that a time machine may be available in the year 5000?

I'd be more tempted if I could set some kind of conditions for being thawed out instead of just a specific year. Like if the Dolphins were Super Bowl favorites or the world's media felt that the USA had a real chance of winning the World Cup. Or if science had found a way to make deep dish pizza, cheeseburgers, and milkshakes just as healthy as a plate of spinach or something.

That's a compelling idea. But there is no benefit to being the last to the party with a time machine. I wanted to be in on the first wave when you can still use it to make money gambling and in the market while avoiding horrific mistakes.

I want to climb in the Delorean with Doc Brown and wake up in 2015 when we have all those flying cars available.

Thaw me out when robot wives are cheap and effective.

I think being thawed out when everyone I know and love is long dead would suck beyond all reason.

I'd still look at it from the perspective of - if everyone froze themselves we'd never advance, therefore my part to play is (hopefully) helping us get towards that point in some small way.

There will always be bigger and better in the future (I'm an optimist) enjoy the now you're given rather than pining for something which doesn't exist yet .... otherwise why only wait until people live to 125, wait another 200 years and they might live to 150 etc.

Without question or hesitation. I'm selfish.

Um, hello, my generation didn't spend the last few decades ignoring all of the world's major problems and screwing over future generations just so we could go forward in time and actually reap what we sow.

I'll just leave this here ...

What's the hover-text, though?

lol yeah, no thanks. chances are it'll be some dystopian nightmare with forced labor and rationed everything

``

It's got what plants crave!

I am slightly afraid that the first half of Idiocracy is more prophetic than I would like.

SI