James has offered the following:
Dear Bruce,
Sorry for the delay in answering. I will send you 50 more books. Also, if you would like to excerpt anything up to 10 pages from TFI (perhaps all or part of the Addendum?) in your book, I would be honored to authorize same. For your convenience, I have attached the entire novel in MS Word format.
Best regards,
Jim
I've excerpted the Addendum here:
ADDENDUM
We enjoy a dubious distinction: Almost certainly, you and I number among the last few generations of mortal humans. If the human race does not self-destruct, our great-great-grandchildren, grandchildren, or even our children may stave off death long enough to witness the defeat of aging itself. We, however, probably won’t. Worse yet, once we die it is only a matter of time, and generally not much of it, before we, along with nearly everything we value, are forgotten.
Over the coming century, technological advances will render civilization unrecognizable. In The First Immortal, I have presented an optimistic view of our future, but perhaps not so optimistic as it might seem. Human life has steadily improved, on average, for centuries.
It does seem clear that any twenty-second century world that cryonically frozen human beings could actually reach would have to possess the spirit, though not the specifics, of the world I’ve drawn. For people to be revived on a wholesale basis, the ultimate value of human life as a philosophical axiom is prerequisite. Any society with such science at its command could have no other reason to revive humans from the ice.
But would we accustomed to 20th-century life enjoy even a “utopian” future?
All change takes getting used to, yet we may have good reason to adapt. Just imagine how today’s civilization would seem to those who had lived five centuries ago. After an initial psychological trauma, former citizens of the 1500s would quickly come to appreciate modern life as miraculous, a place of seemingly unending marvels to absorb. Despite its many problems, our world is an astounding improvement over theirs.
What would it be worth to glimpse, and perhaps inhabit, the world of a century or more from now?
The desire to extend one’s healthy life is not an arrogant wish, but a fundamental component of our species nature, as intrinsic as the need of air or water. Over the past two years, while researching this novel, I immersed myself in the culture of the cryonicists. I subscribed to their newsletters and e-mail lists, monitored their newsgroups, joined various organizations, and devoured countless books and Web sites on cryonics and nanotechnology. I’ve corresponded with pioneers of cryonics, always trying to keep an open mind. I’ve also listened to and read the often well-reasoned arguments of detractors, skeptics, and cynics. And while I have not become a star-struck true-believer, I’ve opened my mind to the realm of the possible, and have decided that I am more than willing to gamble a little to save so much.
WILL CRYONICS WORK?
Nature herself proves that repair at the molecular level is possible. When will such technology become available? That is unknowable, of course, but time is on our side. Liquid nitrogen temperature will hold cells in near-perfect stasis for thousands of years.
As for the standard question about what happens to the soul while one is on ice: If you believe in vitalism, consider the fact mentioned in the text of the story that many humans alive today were once frozen at liquid nitrogen temperature, as embryos. One could hardly call these individuals soulless. Rather, they are convincing evidence that the soul, if it exists, remains with us when frozen.
Half a century ago, most scientists deemed space travel unfeasible, and some contended that the sound barrier would never be broken. Many doctors, 40 years ago, considered heart transplants scientifically impossible. Who, even 30 years ago, could have imagined today’s laptop computers, omnipresent cellular phone systems, or the Internet? We have already seen instances of human beings restored to life after up to an hour’s immersion in sub-32°F water, humans who were deceased by any clinical definition. Small organisms have routinely been frozen and revived.
It seems naïve to insist that cryonics cannot work simply because no scientific process yet exists to revive deep-frozen adult mammals. By the time medical science possesses the technology to repair freezing damage, we will most likely know how to reverse aging as well, and thus no longer need the stopgap of cryonics.
Just as simple microchips can now store thousands of pages of text, isn’t it imaginable -— even likely — that within the next few centuries we will learn to repair damaged cell structures molecule by molecule, either through nanotechnology or some other scientific discipline from an infinite array of possibilities?
In case the hopeful ice is an option you would consider for yourself and those you love, the following sections offer resources and advice which, of course, you should accept or reject as your own common sense dictates.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RECOMMENDED READING
The Prospect of Immortality, by Robert C. W. Ettinger. Published by Doubleday in the early 1960s, this is the book which started it all. Although the time-frame has not progressed as rapidly as predicted, the concepts are presented with accessibility, humor, and great intelligence.
(Note: Hard to find, but generally available from Alcor and the Cryonics Institute, both listed below. Also recommended for adventurous readers, Ettinger’s sequel: Man into Superman.)
Engines of Creation, by Eric Drexler. An amazing book on nanotechnology. Clear, concise, easy to understand, I consider Engines of Creation one of the best books ever written on any field of science. Trade paperback published by Anchor Books, 1987.
The Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan. A very readable and logical treatise on critical thinking and the differences between science and superstition. Random House, 1995.
Virus of the Mind, by Richard Brodie. An accessible and entertaining book about memetics, the theory which attempts to explain how people become enslaved by advertising, religion, cults, mysticism, and other “memes.” Integral Press, 1996.
Nanomedicine, by Robert A. Freitas, Jr. An impressively detailed scientific analysis of some of the medical possibilities of nanotechnology. The first of three volumes is slated to be published by Landes Bioscience in early 1999. For more information, www.nanomedicine.com or www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine/index.html
CryoNet: A free electronic forum on cryonics. To subscribe, send an e-mail to: majordomo@cryonet.org with the following message in the body (not the subject line) of your e-mail: “subscribe cryonet”
Cryonics, Alcor’s excellent quarterly magazine. Subscriptions, $15 per year US, $20 Canada and Mexico, $25 overseas. Subscribers might also wish to receive The Alcor Phoenix, which comes out eight times per year, for an additional $20 US, $25 all other countries. Alcor, 7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110, Scottsdale AZ 85260
www.extropy.org, Web site of the Extropy Institute, a non-profit organization that delves into advanced and future technologies and their uses in overcoming human limits.
sci.cryonics: The cryonics newsgroup on Usenet.
www.alcor.org: Alcor’s Web site, with links to many other cryonics and nanotechnology sites on the World Wide Web.
www.foresight.org: The Web site of the Foresight Institute (P.O.Box 61058, Palo Alto, CA 94306) offers the latest opportunities to learn more about the field of nanotechnology. e-mail: inform@foresight.org
www.firstimmortal.com: Explore The First Immortal Web site, and post your comments on the discussion forum. I visit this site myself from time to time, and respond to many of the messages.
Life Extension Foundation, P. O. Box 229120, Hollywood, Florida 33022-9120, telephone 800-544-4440. Publishes Life Extension magazine, offering up-to-date information and exceptionally low prices on high quality nutritional supplements, vitamins, and other alternative medicines and books. Subscriptions $40 per annum, full membership $75. Web site: www.lef.org
CRYONICS ORGANIZATIONS
The following six facilities all appear to be operated by reputable, competent, and conscientious individuals. I hasten to add that these organizations are not structured to attract customers, but to facilitate freezing for the fully informed.
They lose money on every “patient” they sign up, and, like universities, must depend on donations to make up the difference. Furthermore, most principals of such facilities could earn higher incomes in other fields; they’re not in cryonics for the money. They will gladly supply information and answer your questions, but unlike most “sales organizations,” they won’t court your participation. Do not expect hand-holding: You must pursue them, and not the reverse.
Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Non-profit, tax exempt. The largest cryonics facility in the world. Founded 1972. Current rates: $120,000 whole body or $50,000 neuro-suspension. May be funded with a life-insurance policy. (See “quickquote” listing below.) 7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110, Scottsdale AZ 85260-6916 Phone (602) 922-9013 (800) 367-2228 FAX (602) 922-9027 e-mail: info@alcor.org for general requests. Web site: http://www.alcor.org
American Cryonics Society P. O. Box 1509, Cupertino, CA 95105 For information on joining, and on services they provide, telephone 415-254-2001, 800-523-2001 or e-mail: cryonics@earthlink.net Web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~cryonics
Cryocare (non-profit, hires some for-profit companies to perform suspensions and storage. Not tax exempt. Current rates, under most circumstances: $125,000 full body; $58,500 neuro. May be funded with life insurance.) For more information, call toll-free 1-800-TOP-CARE (1-800-867-2273) For inquiries via U.S. Mail: CryoCare Foundation, Suite 3410 Northeast Hercules Plaza, 1313 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE 19801-1151 email: cryocare@cryocare.org Web site: http://www.cryocare.org/cryocare/
Cryonics Institute (non-profit. Incorporated 1976. Probably your best bet if your finances are limited. Current suspension fee: only $28,000 whole body. May be funded with life insurance.) 24355 Sorrentino Court, Clinton Township, MI 48035 Telephone (810) 791-5961, phone/fax (810) 792-7062, e-mail: ettinger@aol.com or cryonics@msn.com. International Cryonics Foundation 1430 North El Dorado St., Stockton, CA 95202 For information, write or telephone 800-524-4456 or 209-463-0429
Trans Time, Inc. (for-profit) 3029 Teagarden St., San Leandro, CA 94577 For more information, telephone (510)297-5577 or e-mail: quaife@math.berkeley.edu
Often it is most frugal to purchase a separate, single-purpose life insurance policy, naming your cryonics organization as beneficial owner. If you are on the Internet, you can obtain competitive quotes from numerous competing companies through Quickquote, at: http://www.quickquote.com For example: A 44-year-old male non-smoker in good health can purchase a $125,000 term policy for as little as $277.50 per year, although most cryonicists prefer to buy a whole-life policy, which is more expensive up-front, but often more economical over time.
Signing up for cryonics involves a complex and highly proactive process, but is not that difficult once the choice is made. Humans are barnacled with traditions; rigged with a genetic propensity to accept and succumb to cultural norms, one of which is that whatever has been inevitable is ever thus. Furthermore, our instinctive fears cause most people to avoid dwelling upon death or any of its aspects, while dealing with a cryonics organization’s paperwork—obtaining all the necessary signatures, obscure information, and documentation—requires just that. Hence the tendency to procrastinate.
Call two or more cryonics organizations and request their information packets. When they arrive, read them. Make this important decision in a careful and timely manner, as detached from emotion as possible, and if you decide in favor of cryonics, grit your teeth and see the process through.
Every day you survive increases your odds of a hyper-extended life. Cryonic preservation techniques will no doubt continue to improve, so the longer you live before being frozen (assuming your mind and memory remain sound), the more likely your revival with identity intact. Thus, the importance of maintaining your health takes on a new dimension.
Finally, the spread of information, even in the face of the uninformed ridicule that inevitably accompanies any attempt to shift societal attitudes, is a key to fruitful change. If you enjoyed The First Immortal, or found its ideas stimulating, try to get every person you care about to read it, too. Then you can discuss it with them from common ground. They might even thank you a century or more from now. In our unbounded future, anything is possible.
Best wishes and long life,
Jim Halperin
