[ExI] Future Bodies

[Keith Henson]

On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 9:56 PM,   BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think I have said before that a population of 1,000+ year old people
> will be very different. Much more risk averse for example.

Your supposition may not be correct. I am reminded of the WorldCon of
1995 in Glasgow where I was on a cryonics panel with Ben Best and
others.

During the questions a woman complained that a world full of people
signed up for cryonics would be insufferably dull because the people
would be so adverse to risk.

I asked her if she had watched the fireworks display put on by the
convention the previous night? She said yes, puzzled as to why I would
bring it up. I then asked her if she remembered the really big one
that had only gone up about half the height expected and came down all
around the fireworks crew? She did, then told her the reason it had
not gone up very high was that about a square foot blew out of the
side of the cardboard mortar tube it had been fired from—and that I
was 20 feet from the mortar when it happened. I came back reeking of
gunpowder smoke.

The risk adverse would never serve on a fireworks crew.

Neither would they put HIV patients on cardiac bypass, which I have also done.

If your argument is that risk takers would be weeded out by accidents,
I doubt it. By that far into the future, we can certainly be repaired
of minor damage or reloaded from backups if completely vaporized.

Keith