Let’s suppose your mind is perfectly preserved (in whatever method they choose to use).
Let’s suppose you retain the continuity of your memories and you still feel you are “you.”
Let’s suppose the future society is kinder, nicer, less wasteful, more tolerant, and every kid owns a puppy.
Let’s suppose the end of fossil fuels didn’t destroy civilization because we were wise enough to have an alternative ready in time.
Let’s suppose we managed to save the ozone layer and reverse global warming and the world is still a more-or-less pleasant place to live in.
Let’s suppose the future society has actually competent people in political positions.
Good!
But still...
What body do you end up having? Even if the future doctors can clone a whole new, young, strong body from your DNA (and remove all your potential genetic diseases), that doesn’t mean you’re immortal. Physical destruction of the body (from accidents, natural disasters, etc.) is still a concern. Your new body would still need to have cryonics insurance in case anything happens to it.
And there’s always the risk of spontaneous mutations that will ruin everything: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/sunday-review/why-everyone-seems-to-have-cancer.html?_r=0 Even if sharks don’t naturally die from aging, the mere fact of them living more years increases the probability that they’ll eventually find something that kills them.
Digital uploading is no guarantee of immortality either. Hard drives can be damaged and destroyed too. Even after getting used to a billion years of subjective existence, you will never really, really be able to shake off the fear of annihilation from unforeseen causes.
Even if you (or any of your future copies, which is no guarantee of continued identity) are one of the few lucky who make it to the end of the universe, you will still die. If a heart attack didn’t get you, entropy will.
So it really doesn’t matter how much of an effort you make. In forty years or forty eons, you will still die. What that means to you will depend on how much you plan to do with that time, but unless we find a way to reboot the universe AND survive the reboot AND find ourselves in an environment where life can survive, the last enemy will still be undefeatable.
I don’t follow how this is an argument against cryonics, unless you’re talking to someone who really truly believed that cryonics meant a serious chance of actual literal immortality.
(Also, I have seen it alleged that at least one plausible model of the future of the universe has it dying after finite time, but in such a way that an infinite amount of computation can be done before the end. So it’s not even entirely obvious you couldn’t be subjectively immortal given sufficiently advanced technology. Though I think there have been cosmological discoveries since this model was alleged to be plausible that may undermine its plausibility.)
On the other hand, you’re actually paying people to get you to forfeit your chance at eternity. To paraphrase religious language, you’re dangerously selling your soul too short.
Let’s suppose your mind is perfectly preserved (in whatever method they choose to use). Let’s suppose you retain the continuity of your memories and you still feel you are “you.” Let’s suppose the future society is kinder, nicer, less wasteful, more tolerant, and every kid owns a puppy. Let’s suppose the end of fossil fuels didn’t destroy civilization because we were wise enough to have an alternative ready in time. Let’s suppose we managed to save the ozone layer and reverse global warming and the world is still a more-or-less pleasant place to live in. Let’s suppose the future society has actually competent people in political positions.
Good! But still...
What body do you end up having? Even if the future doctors can clone a whole new, young, strong body from your DNA (and remove all your potential genetic diseases), that doesn’t mean you’re immortal. Physical destruction of the body (from accidents, natural disasters, etc.) is still a concern. Your new body would still need to have cryonics insurance in case anything happens to it. And there’s always the risk of spontaneous mutations that will ruin everything: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/sunday-review/why-everyone-seems-to-have-cancer.html?_r=0 Even if sharks don’t naturally die from aging, the mere fact of them living more years increases the probability that they’ll eventually find something that kills them. Digital uploading is no guarantee of immortality either. Hard drives can be damaged and destroyed too. Even after getting used to a billion years of subjective existence, you will never really, really be able to shake off the fear of annihilation from unforeseen causes. Even if you (or any of your future copies, which is no guarantee of continued identity) are one of the few lucky who make it to the end of the universe, you will still die. If a heart attack didn’t get you, entropy will. So it really doesn’t matter how much of an effort you make. In forty years or forty eons, you will still die. What that means to you will depend on how much you plan to do with that time, but unless we find a way to reboot the universe AND survive the reboot AND find ourselves in an environment where life can survive, the last enemy will still be undefeatable.
I don’t follow how this is an argument against cryonics, unless you’re talking to someone who really truly believed that cryonics meant a serious chance of actual literal immortality.
(Also, I have seen it alleged that at least one plausible model of the future of the universe has it dying after finite time, but in such a way that an infinite amount of computation can be done before the end. So it’s not even entirely obvious you couldn’t be subjectively immortal given sufficiently advanced technology. Though I think there have been cosmological discoveries since this model was alleged to be plausible that may undermine its plausibility.)
On the other hand, you’re actually paying people to get you to forfeit your chance at eternity. To paraphrase religious language, you’re dangerously selling your soul too short.