Check out the latest episode of Castle (Headcase) to see Cryonics covered in mainstream fiction in a not entirely terrible manner. The details are not exactly accurate but probably not more inaccurate than similar fictionalised coverage of most other industries. In fact there is one obvious implementation difference that the company in Castle uses which is how things clearly ought to be:
Amulets of Immortality
It is not uncommon for cryonics enthusiasts to make 'immortality' jokes about their ALCOR necklaces but the equivalent on the show make the obvious practical next step. The patients have heart rate monitors with GPS signalers that signal the cryonics company as soon as the patient flatlines. This is just obviously the way things should be and it is regrettable that the market is not yet broad enough for 'obvious' to have been translated into common practice.
Other things to watch out for:
- Predictable attempts by the cops to take the already preserved body so they can collect more evidence.
- A somewhat insightful question of whether the cryonics company should hand over the corpsicle without taking things to court because that way they would not risk legal precedent being set based on a case where there are unusual factors which may make them lose. It may be better to lose one patient so that they can force the fight to happen on a stronger case.
- Acknowledgement that only the head is required, which allows a compromise of handing over the body minus the head.
- Smug superiority of cops trying to take the cryonics patient against the will of the patient himself, his family and the custodians. This is different than cops just trying to claim territory and do their job and to the hell with everyone else, it is cops trying to convey that it is morally virtuous to take the corpse and the wife would understand that it was in her and her corpsicle husband's best interest to autopsy his head if she wasn't so stupid. (Which seems like a realistic attitude.)
- Costar and lead detective Beckett actually attempts to murder a cryonics patient (to whatever extent that murder applies to corpsicle desiccation). For my part this gave me the chance to explore somewhat more tangibly my ethical intuitions over what types of responses would be appropriate. My conclusion was that if someone had shot Beckett in order to protect the corpsicle I would have been indifferent. Not glad that she was killed but not proud of the person killing her either. I suspect (but cannot test) that most of the pain and frustration of losing a character that I cared about would be averted as well. Curious.
- Brain destroying disease vs cryonicist standoff!
- Beckett redeems herself on the 'not being an ass to cryonicists' front by being completely non-judgemental of the woman for committing "involuntary euthenasia" of her tumor-infested husband. (Almost to the point of being inconsistent with her earlier behavior but I'm not complaining.)
- A clever "Romeo and Juliet" conclusion to wrap up the case without Beckett being forced to put the wife in jail for an act that has some fairly reasonable consequentialist upsides. Played out to be about as close to a happy ending as you could get.
Really? If I assume that you're operating solely to maximize number of years lived (which I think you are) doesn't this imply that you think that the corpsicle has a higher probability of living forever than Beckett does? Even if you assume Beckett won't get cryonics (hopefully it will become more mainstream by the time she dies though) she will likely live another 40-50 years. And I could be wrong (I really have little evidence on it, except the opinions of those people on this site) but I thought that most people considered p(singularity in the next 40 to 50 years) to be vastly higher than p(cryonics works and nothing goes wrong)
Yes it would but no I'm not. I never optimize for maximising the number of lives lived. Especially not in the sense that assumes I must care about everyone equally.
In this case what I was describing is my predicted emotional affect in the counterfactual fictional circumstances in which Beckett dies while attempting headslaughter. I find that much like I don't identify with and care about the suffering of those people who Beckett destroys the lives of via imprisonment or execution I would not identify with and care about the death of Beckett while she was perpetrating a significant ethical transgression. Perhaps more importantly I consider it ethically permissable to defend yourself, your loved ones, the helpless and the innocent from violation, including with deadly force. Where most instances of deadly force perpetrated upon another would provoke empathy for the victim it makes a big difference if the victim was the one instigating the conflict.