Is This a vision of the future? Not nuclear-wasted or obliterated by foul virus, but cryonically preserved at the last moment - for future defrosting?
Robert Ettinger, pioneer of Cryonics - freezing people - died in July 2011 aged 92, and is now the 106th person to be preserved in liquid nitrogen. He joins a wife and two sons…
At least, he's the 106th of the Cryonics Institute ( http://www.cryonics.org/ )
but Who Knows what devilish experiments are going on in dank cellars the world over…
(Above: labouring over Frankenstein).
I think it was Woody Allen, unleashed from his Bacofoil in ‘Sleeper’, who first brought this fascinating yet demented concept to my attention…
This is his Robot Butler disguise as he battles with an Instant Pudding wearing hat of the season.
(For those who haven't seen Sleeper, he comes back 200 years after a routine operation in 1973 - it's a surprise to everyone).
The idea of cryonics, apparently, is that those who are considered dead now, may not really be dead according to the much cleverer medecine of the future. And naturally, people of the future will want to revive all these ice-bodies and welcome them into a brave new world.
WHY will they? This is, in fact, one of the FAQs of people pondering such preservation. BECAUSE, is the Frequent Answer, they’ll be under contract to! (One thinks of those reliable contracts to get your roof done or your phone provider changed...).
They will be members of a cryonics community of the future. As I understand it, this community will defrost you and welcome you as friend and family, and sort out your exciting new life with them! There might even be a nice community gate...
I suppose, if you are inclined towards a Further Adventure Beyond, this sounds almost encouraging. And cryonics only costs around 28,000 dollars at the moment, so Hurry while Stocks last! (nitrogen, jymjams, Kendal Mint Cake).
I may have watched too many bleak futuristic films, but I can’t help envisaging evil robots and acid rains and lab-humans, rather than kind, beaming people who will merrily cure one's impetigo…
There's a sinister Roald Dahl Tale of the Unexpected called "William and Mary", where the domineering husband is returned as An Eye - probably not quite what he'd had in mind - and his wife looks forward to puffing endless forbidden cigarettes at him while knocking back endless forbidden drinks...
I bet cryonics communities don't warn you about that do they?
