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This got me thinking about stasis pods (as opposed to the hibernation pods in the article). When I think of stasis pods I always think of space travel. But ..
by fpgaminer 8y ago
This got me thinking about stasis pods (as opposed to the hibernation pods in the article). When I think of stasis pods I always think of space travel. But ... now I wonder how many people on Earth would use them? I can see plenty of people in the valley being rich enough and crazy enough to stasis themselves so they can see the future and reap its benefits.
But maybe it's not crazy. If given the choice; would you choose to live now, or in the future? There aren't many people I know who aren't cynical about the present. The more I think about it, the more I wonder just how _many_ people might do it.
But then, when would you stop? Would you wake up in 100 years, experience the new, brighter future, only to become cynical again and jump to the next era?
What would our world be like if we were carrying around half our population in stasis pods? all of them hopping from one era to the next, never satisfied.
Sci-fi technology always seems to provoke the most interesting human dilemmas.
- wgerard 8y ago> But maybe it's not crazy. If given the choice; would you choose to live now, or in the future? There aren't many people I know who aren't cynical about the present. The more I think about it, the more I wonder just how _many_ people might do it. If you're truly cynical about the present, I actually think stasis would be a far worse option: 1) If you're really cynical about things like climate change, thermonuclear war, etc. the future could easily be much, much worse than the present. Imagine waking up out of stasis to find yourself in the world from "The Road". 2) If you're cynical but with a glimmer of hope, you're essentially banking on the idea that not everyone like yourself will go into stasis. Otherwise, how would things ever get better?
- mr_overalls 8y agoThis was the plot of Marooned in Realtime, an award-winning Vernor Vinge novel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marooned_in_Realtime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marooned_in_Realtime
- ForHackernews 8y agoI'm cynical about the present largely because I figure the future will be worse. Humanity is not going to face up to the ecological disaster we've caused, so our grandchildren (or our defrosted selves) will have to live with the droughts, famines and wars that result.
- jcfrei 8y agoI've always wondered this too. Could we use Therapeutic Hypothermia (as it's called in the article) to increase our life spans? At least until more advanced medical procedures can cure aging?
- matude 8y ago> I can see plenty of people in the valley being rich enough and crazy enough to stasis themselves so they can see the future and reap its benefits. Invest money in stocks, bonds and the like and automatically reinvest dividends. Sleep for 10-20 years, wake up in a potentially better financial position.
- sdenton4 8y ago(depending on maintenance costs for cryo sleep...)