What does Alice think Bob would think of her getting married in his absence were he to be brought back at a later date?
Bob also was monogamous. Alice is pretty sure Bob wouldn’t like it.
How likely does she think it is that he’d be brought back in her lifetime?
Alice is uncertain. She thinks it’s possible, she is not sure how likely it is.
Does she think that she’d still want to be in a relationship with him if she waited and he was brought back after, say, forty years?
She has no idea what she’ll want in 40 years.
the solution to any specific relationship problem is likely to be idiosyncratic.
So, are there are any general guidelines, you think? Remember, the claim we are talking about is that the desire for closure is extremely selfish and “suboptimal”.
So, are there are any general guidelines, you think?
Well, I suspect that anyone preserved with current technology is probably not coming back, while this may not be the case for people preserved in the future given different technological resources, so I’d suggest treating death as probably permanent in cases of present cryonics. So as a guideline, I’d suggest that both those slated to be cryonically preserved and their survivors treat the procedure as offering a low probability that the subject is put into suspended animation rather than permanent death.
How to deal with that situation is up to individual values, but I think that for most people, refusing to seek another partner would result in an expected decrease in future happiness.
Bob also was monogamous. Alice is pretty sure Bob wouldn’t like it.
Alice is uncertain. She thinks it’s possible, she is not sure how likely it is.
She has no idea what she’ll want in 40 years.
So, are there are any general guidelines, you think? Remember, the claim we are talking about is that the desire for closure is extremely selfish and “suboptimal”.
Well, I suspect that anyone preserved with current technology is probably not coming back, while this may not be the case for people preserved in the future given different technological resources, so I’d suggest treating death as probably permanent in cases of present cryonics. So as a guideline, I’d suggest that both those slated to be cryonically preserved and their survivors treat the procedure as offering a low probability that the subject is put into suspended animation rather than permanent death.
How to deal with that situation is up to individual values, but I think that for most people, refusing to seek another partner would result in an expected decrease in future happiness.