4 ms·

> You can't buy decades, but you can buy five to ten years, and for some people that would be all the difference they need. I like the idea but this seems high

> You can't buy decades, but you can buy five to ten years, and for some people that would be all the difference they need. I like the idea but this seems highly impractical. "Some people," in this case likely means a tiny faction of a percent. I.e. those who nearly die of a disease for which a cure is less than a decade away. The remaining majority are huge drains on resources. It hardly seems ethical when so many living people go with out basic medical care.

astrodust 10y ago
It's actually a lot of people. The most common diseases are genetic in nature, and there's so many of them in the long tail that the combined effect of these is staggering. It won't be long before they've mapped out the genome to the point where tools like CRISPR allow them to swap out broken genes or re-enable genes that were erroneously disabled. When that happens there's going to be literally thousands and thousands of diseases that go from a death sentence to an inconvenience. Some conditions aren't immediately fatal, but you are living on borrowed time, and those people might benefit by being put in a form of suspended animation. Those faced with the choice between toughing it out to a death that's going to be undignified and painful and, where applicable, some kind of assisted suicide could have a third choice: Sleep it out and hope it works. If it doesn't, you still have the other options, but the decay could be slowed down enough you've bought some time. If done right, torpor or something like it would be very inexpensive. You'd just need someone to monitor vital signs, no big deal, as there's no expensive cryogenic equipment involved. Just a cozy place to rest that's kept at a comfortable temperature and fresh air. I can imagine this is like the most chill "coffin hotel" you've ever been in since people only wake up once every few months.
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astrodust 10y ago

It's actually a lot of people. The most common diseases are genetic in nature, and there's so many of them in the long tail that the combined effect of these is staggering. It won't be long before they've mapped out the genome to the point where tools like CRISPR allow them to swap out broken genes or re-enable genes that were erroneously disabled. When that happens there's going to be literally thousands and thousands of diseases that go from a death sentence to an inconvenience. Some conditions aren't immediately fatal, but you are living on borrowed time, and those people might benefit by being put in a form of suspended animation. Those faced with the choice between toughing it out to a death that's going to be undignified and painful and, where applicable, some kind of assisted suicide could have a third choice: Sleep it out and hope it works. If it doesn't, you still have the other options, but the decay could be slowed down enough you've bought some time. If done right, torpor or something like it would be very inexpensive. You'd just need someone to monitor vital signs, no big deal, as there's no expensive cryogenic equipment involved. Just a cozy place to rest that's kept at a comfortable temperature and fresh air. I can imagine this is like the most chill "coffin hotel" you've ever been in since people only wake up once every few months.

deleted 10y ago

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