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We ask Tomorrow Bio members what they’d do when they wake up in the future.
So, you’ve come across cryonics and cryopreservation, and notice there’s always a common statement when talking about revival: cryonics companies can’t confirm when exactly this will be possible.
This is because the process is reliant on future technologies to both cure patient’s of their cause of death, and to work to repair, and rewarm the body from biostasis. This is something we have yet to achieve. Innovations like nanotechnology may prove to be instrumental in the revival process, but medical technology is still a long way from achieving this. However, there's no need to despair. Biologically, there isn’t a reason why awakening from biostasis won’t be possible in the future.
This doesn’t mean cryonics members can’t speculate the possibilities that lay in store for them when they wake up.
Historically speaking, humanity has benefited from technological and medical advancements, so it isn’t a stretch to say that future technologies will likely improve our lives in some capacity. Not to mention how past technologies such as the airplane and the telephone revolutionized how people travel and communicate nearly a century after their inception. There is no reason to believe that this positive trend won't continue.
Current assessments can also be examined to see what societies might look like upon reawakening; for example what futuristic cities might look like. Perhaps by then, we will have achieved sustainable superabundance, a future where we have more than enough of everything from energy, to food to material goods. Maybe humanity, after mastering suspended animation and human cryopreservation techniques, will finally be able to achieve long distance space travel. Or, perhaps people will be able to transcend their physical bodies by uploading their minds to a digital, computer generated space or Metaverse.
If longevity research, along with revival from biostasis, is possible in the future, this could dramatically alter the human experience. In the 19th century, if you lived in Europe, your life expectancy was significantly lower than it is today. In Germany, for example, by 1875 the life expectancy was 38.4 years old. Now it’s over 80 years. That’s over the course of nearly 150 years. What could happen in the next 150?
At Tomorrow Bio, what we do know is that, if revival works, cryonics members will be able to see first-hand whether their predictions about the future came to pass. However, there might be things, inventions and innovations, that we can’t even yet imagine that could be present in the future. So, what would members want to do if they were revived after cryopreservation? Let’s find out!
We asked our existing Tomorrow Bio members a couple of questions about what they would do if and when they were revived and awakened from biostasis. These questions included what sort of technologies they are excited to try, what they would do with additional free time, and what they hope to do in the future that they can’t do now.
Out of the responses to our survey, the most prominent technologies our members want to experience is space travel. To be fair, who wouldn’t want to traverse the stars?
“Hopefully, we can achieve faster than light speed travel to other planets and galaxies!”
“Traveling to other stars, using a spaceship with a warp drive.”
Space travel is a common wish for anyone who dreams of venturing to infinity and beyond. The current goal of aerospace organizations and institutions globally is to eventually travel to Mars. While light speed and hyperspace are still a long way away, there have been scientific studies and research that hopes to make this a reality. Currently, companies like SpaceWork Enterprises are working with NASA on a project to try and achieve cryosleep. This is an artificially induced human hibernation that could help astronauts travel in this state by lowering metabolic activity. However, one complication is that in this state, astronauts would continue to age.
With human cryopreservation, aging ceases when patients are in a vitrified state, meaning that this could help for long distance space travel to planets or galaxies that would take years to reach. Human cryopreservation presently can only be conducted on the legally dead, but in the future, once revival technology will be developed, this state could be induced on the living.
Perhaps by the time members wake up, they’ll be able to experience this new form of travel.
The second highest mentioned technology members want to experience is augmented or virtual reality.
“It's really hard to pick something on the list of all the cool things we might have, but one thing I guess I'd really like to try out is full-sensory-immersion VR. It always fascinated me after I read about the VR gaming habits of Iain M. Banks' Culture where some people would go in for years at a time. Years is maybe a bit much, but I mean, who wouldn't want to take at least a little time out of their life to go be a wizard hero in a fantasy land populated by an AI?”
“I’m very interested in how technology will shape the entertainment industry of the future. Will we still have some sort of book? And will movies become so engaging to almost feel like real life? Maybe using VR or augmented reality to experience a film?”
Now that does sound tempting! Imagine being able to experience a superhero film as if you were there in the thick of the action, or walk around in a fantasy world and take on a dragon in VR? Though let’s hope there’s an in game reminder to go eat or sleep!
Who wouldn’t want to be able to do more in life if they had extra time? Maybe take up a new hobby, or travel? For our members, the biggest thing they want to do with more free time is to learn something new.
And just what do they want to learn? Let’s see, we have:
Chances are, if you work full-time you are already limited by what and when you can learn something new. Advancements in technology could allow people to achieve a better work-life balance. This is central to the objectives of sustainable superabundance; overcoming different aspects of human life necessary to reach this kind of future. Perhaps by the time you wake up, work will be a distant memory.
“I’d like to try a different career path (hoping that, thanks to sustainable superabundance, working will mostly be a sort of hobby). It’s such a waste that most people focus on only one thing in their life. Maybe I can become an expert in alien biology.”
Alien biology, planetary ecology, these new fields of study could be greatly expanded on in the future. Perhaps members could study this at university, or find new sectors of work around these topics. And it’s not just the sciences, but culture too. What sort of artistic forms of cultural expression will society have developed by then? Will individuals even be able to speak the same language spoken in the past? That would make reintegration an interesting prospect.
These are just some of the possibilities of what our members could experience in the future. With cryonics, people who’ve signed up can have the chance, however small, to experience this in a healthier body. Afterall, the purpose of cryonics is to allow people the opportunity to extend their lives, and choose how long they want to live.
While nobody can predict exactly when revival technologies will be possible, we can expect that the world will be full of new innovations, new forms of culture, advancements, and perspectives and philosophies.
So, dear reader, if you had the chance to be revived from biostasis in the future, what would you do? Let us know in our Discord.
If you want to read about what the future might have in store, check out our articles on Tomorrow Insight. We talk about cryonics and all related topics, including futurism. Consider signing up with Tomorrow Bio and become a member today, and maybe we’ll see you in the future!
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