I do not see the difference in those dying of other causes also being a tragedy. Even if you do believe extending the human lifespan is not important, consider the alternative case where you’re wrong.
I think most EAs would agree that death is bad. The important question would be how tractable life expansion is.
This is related to Life Extension, but even more neglected, and probably even more impactful. The number of people actually working on cryonics to improve human minds is easily below 100. A key advancement from one individual in research, technology, or organizational improvement could likely have enormous impact. The reason for doing this goes back to the idea of irrecoverable loss of sentient minds. As with life extension, if you do not believe cryonics to be important or even possible, consider the alternative where you’re wrong. If one day we do manage to bring people back from suspended animation, I believe humanity will weep for all those that were needlessly thrown in the dirt or the fire: for they are the ones there is no hope for, an irreversible tragedy. The main reason why I think this isn’t being worked on more is because it is even “weirder” than most EA causes, despite making a good deal of sense.
Not sure if I can speak for everyone here, but personally I am not optimistic enough about AI to focus on cryo. Also, the limiting factor for cryonics seems to be more it’s weirdness rather than research? The technology exists. The costs are probably only going down if more people sign up, right?
“Also, the limiting factor for cryonics seems to be more it’s weirdness rather than research?”
Not really. The perfusion techniques haven’t really updated in decades. And the standby teams to actually perform preservation in the event of an accident are extremely spread out and limited. I think some new organizations need to breath life back into cryonics, with clear benchmarks for standards they hope to achieve over a certain timeline. I think Tomorrow Biostasis is doing the kind of thing I’m speaking of, but would love to see more organizations like them.
Not really. The perfusion techniques haven’t really updated in decades.
Honestly, not knowledgeable enough to know how much of a qualitative difference that makes (eg. how much does that increase your expected value of future you?).
They might also improve the process somewhat, but at the current scope, the impact is very limited as long as there is like less than (~10,000?) (just a ballpark, not looking up actual number) people signed up, and the whole thing costs ~50,000$ if you are getting it real cheap. Like, I also have extended family members that are close to dying, but I am not close enough to them to convince them that this could be a good idea and the cost is a real issue for 99% of the population (Maybe more could save the money in their bank account, but can they reason through the decision?). I honestly think that there are lots of people who would sign up for cryonics if given more capacity/time to think for themselves, but it’s hard enough to get people to invest their money for future self in the same lifetime.
I think Tomorrow Biostasis is doing the kind of thing I’m speaking of, but would love to see more organizations like them.
Yeah, I had a call with them as I was not sure whether I would want to sign up or not, and it seems they are doing a great job at making the process way less painfull and weird. Not sure about the exact numbers anymore, but I remember that they expect to outgrow Alcor in a few years (or have they already?). I would really question whether there is room for lots of more cryo organizations if the public perception of them does not change, and I would definitely question whether it would be the best thing to pursue on longtermist grounds (rather than selfish (totally reasonable) grounds). I still recommend friends of mine to look into cryonics, but only because I care about them, if they care about helping other people I’d recommend other things.
I think most EAs would agree that death is bad. The important question would be how tractable life expansion is.
Not sure if I can speak for everyone here, but personally I am not optimistic enough about AI to focus on cryo. Also, the limiting factor for cryonics seems to be more it’s weirdness rather than research? The technology exists. The costs are probably only going down if more people sign up, right?
“Also, the limiting factor for cryonics seems to be more it’s weirdness rather than research?”
Not really. The perfusion techniques haven’t really updated in decades. And the standby teams to actually perform preservation in the event of an accident are extremely spread out and limited. I think some new organizations need to breath life back into cryonics, with clear benchmarks for standards they hope to achieve over a certain timeline. I think Tomorrow Biostasis is doing the kind of thing I’m speaking of, but would love to see more organizations like them.
Honestly, not knowledgeable enough to know how much of a qualitative difference that makes (eg. how much does that increase your expected value of future you?).
They might also improve the process somewhat, but at the current scope, the impact is very limited as long as there is like less than (~10,000?) (just a ballpark, not looking up actual number) people signed up, and the whole thing costs ~50,000$ if you are getting it real cheap. Like, I also have extended family members that are close to dying, but I am not close enough to them to convince them that this could be a good idea and the cost is a real issue for 99% of the population (Maybe more could save the money in their bank account, but can they reason through the decision?). I honestly think that there are lots of people who would sign up for cryonics if given more capacity/time to think for themselves, but it’s hard enough to get people to invest their money for future self in the same lifetime.
Yeah, I had a call with them as I was not sure whether I would want to sign up or not, and it seems they are doing a great job at making the process way less painfull and weird. Not sure about the exact numbers anymore, but I remember that they expect to outgrow Alcor in a few years (or have they already?). I would really question whether there is room for lots of more cryo organizations if the public perception of them does not change, and I would definitely question whether it would be the best thing to pursue on longtermist grounds (rather than selfish (totally reasonable) grounds). I still recommend friends of mine to look into cryonics, but only because I care about them, if they care about helping other people I’d recommend other things.