Ok. I read the whole thing. As someone who participated in the proto-less-wrong type forums on anti ageing/longevity/being immortal almost close to two decades ago, I just want to add that even back in 2002, cryonics was ALWAYS plan B to many of us who spent our evenings chatting about how to live forever.
There is too much to say..but short version: Cryonics was not just bad science. It was considered by many of us then as bad science fiction...at its best. At its worst, no more useful than the Egyptian mummification attempts to become immortal. In the end, the Egyptian mummies ended to as fertilizer anyways.
Alcor that went by Life Extension then got into a right royal soup later when Ted Williams frozen body was separated from his head that went missing and was kicked around by a rogue employee. Several of his DNA samples went missing.
It was GNARLY. I slowly became disenchanted but I have to admit that reading this now, great strides have certainly been made..not so much as getting closer to anti-ageing, but more in terms of clarity of purpose.
On a slightly related(nostalgic) note: ‘neural link’ was always the reachable and desirable goal. And I think that’s where we will end up eventually. Neural links and clones/bionic/prosthetic aided clones.
[..]But the worst was yet to come. Fast forward seven years to 2009, when a book by a former employee of Alcor hit the shelves containing explosive allegations of Alcor’s abusive treatment of Williams’ frozen head. Author Larry Johnson wrote that an empty tuna can was used as a pedestal to support the slugger’s head while experiments (which subsequently cracked his frozen brain) were conducted. When the tuna can became stuck to the head, an Alcor employee allegedly tried to dislodge it by swinging at it with a monkey wrench, in the process missing the can and connecting with Williams’ head instead. Johnson wrote that the impact sprayed “bits of frozen head” around the room.[..]
There is too much to say..but short version: Cryonics was not just bad science. It was considered by many of us then as bad science fiction...at its best. At its worst, no more useful than the Egyptian mummification attempts to become immortal. In the end, the Egyptian mummies ended to as fertilizer anyways.
Alcor that went by Life Extension then got into a right royal soup later when Ted Williams frozen body was separated from his head that went missing and was kicked around by a rogue employee. Several of his DNA samples went missing.
It was GNARLY. I slowly became disenchanted but I have to admit that reading this now, great strides have certainly been made..not so much as getting closer to anti-ageing, but more in terms of clarity of purpose.
On a slightly related(nostalgic) note: ‘neural link’ was always the reachable and desirable goal. And I think that’s where we will end up eventually. Neural links and clones/bionic/prosthetic aided clones.
Re: Ted Williams and Alcor .. https://connectingdirectors.com/53931-ted-williams
[..]But the worst was yet to come. Fast forward seven years to 2009, when a book by a former employee of Alcor hit the shelves containing explosive allegations of Alcor’s abusive treatment of Williams’ frozen head. Author Larry Johnson wrote that an empty tuna can was used as a pedestal to support the slugger’s head while experiments (which subsequently cracked his frozen brain) were conducted. When the tuna can became stuck to the head, an Alcor employee allegedly tried to dislodge it by swinging at it with a monkey wrench, in the process missing the can and connecting with Williams’ head instead. Johnson wrote that the impact sprayed “bits of frozen head” around the room.[..]