stcredzero comments on When Science Can't Help - Less Wrong

16 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 15 May 2008 07:24AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (69)

Sort By: Old

You are viewing a single comment's thread.

Comment author: Frank_McGahon 15 May 2008 09:43:21PM 1 point [-]

We've heard from the cons, so here's a pro: at the point where it looks plausible to the general public that frozen dead people might be revived, pulling the plug on the freezers may appear to become morally equivalent to pulling the plug on patients with intact brains who are comatose but not medically dead. It may no longer a purely financial question in the eye of the public, especially if some enterprising journalist decides to focus on the issue.

Talk about wishful thinking! Do people, other than family and friends, even care about pulling the plug on comatose patients now? Positing some new moral obligation towards frozen corpses arising "in the eyes of the public" is like assuming a can opener.

They have investments.

Fair enough, but crucially what they are not likely to have is a) a future stream of customers for whom it is worth maintaining their reputation and b) anyone in a position to defend the interests of their customers compelling them to honour the contract.