Question 25: I’m surprised that Orthodox Judaism would disincline people to choose cryonics—I thought it’s a religion which is strongly oriented towards living this life well rather than towards an afterlife.
I read about an ethics of life extension conference where the only people who were unambiguously in favor of life extention were the Orthodox Jews.
What you’re missing is ”...blah blah blah, proper Jewish burial, in accordance with the will of god… blah blah blah… no ‘disrespecting’ dead bodies … blah blah blah… moshiach (“the messiah”) will come ‘real soon now’, and bring back the dead, their bodies being regrown from a tiny indestructible bone that exists at the base of the spine...”
I’m surprised that Orthodox Judaism would disincline people to choose cryonics—I thought it’s a religion which is strongly oriented towards living this life well rather than towards an afterlife.
Well, yes, exactly. Cryonics is about living this life well, not about an afterlife. An afterlife is what happens after you’re gone. The more you cared about an afterlife, the less you’d be inclined to extend your life or be immortal.
Question 25: I’m surprised that Orthodox Judaism would disincline people to choose cryonics—I thought it’s a religion which is strongly oriented towards living this life well rather than towards an afterlife.
I read about an ethics of life extension conference where the only people who were unambiguously in favor of life extention were the Orthodox Jews.
What am I missing?
What you’re missing is ”...blah blah blah, proper Jewish burial, in accordance with the will of god… blah blah blah… no ‘disrespecting’ dead bodies … blah blah blah… moshiach (“the messiah”) will come ‘real soon now’, and bring back the dead, their bodies being regrown from a tiny indestructible bone that exists at the base of the spine...”
That should give you a small sample. :P
Well, yes, exactly. Cryonics is about living this life well, not about an afterlife. An afterlife is what happens after you’re gone. The more you cared about an afterlife, the less you’d be inclined to extend your life or be immortal.
This might be confusing because it looks like you’re cryonically preserved after you “die”, but really, you haven’t actually died yet. Death means you can no longer be resuscitated.