I’ve thought of a way of managing the religious objection to Kim’s possible revival versus Abrahamic afterlife beliefs. Eternity doesn’t mean endless time like we experience it. Many theologians argue that in eternity, our assumptions and experiences about time don’t apply. Kim’s soul, whatever that means, could very well exist in eternity in whatever place god assigns it (preferably a tolerable one if god considers her an “anonymous christian,” despite her agnosticism), yet this soul could also inhabit the realm of time in Kim’s revived and restored body (and she’ll literally need a body because she got a neurosuspension) in Future World.
In other words, each outcome doesn’t necessarily have to exclude the other. I work with a woman who converted to Orthodox Christianity and has a side business selling icons, and apparently in that tradition a “mystery” doesn’t have the meaning of “puzzle” which the human mind can potentially solve and understand, as in our use of the phrase “murder mysteries.” Orthodox Christians believe that not only does the human mind not understand god’s mysteries; the human mind simply cannot understand them. Instead the Christian has to accept the mystery as a revelation of god’s transcendent sovereignty over creation. Kim’s revival might find some elbow room in this understanding of “mystery” for certain kinds of religionists who might otherwise consider her demon-possessed or a zombie.
Mark, I’m curious. I gather you are a supporter of cryonics who is very critical of most proposed routes to reviving or reconstructing cryopreserved people. How would you hope to be revived if you are cryopreserved? And what probabilities would you input into Jeff Kaufman’s probability spreadsheet (adding your answers there would be very interesting, if you’d like)?
I’ve thought of a way of managing the religious objection to Kim’s possible revival versus Abrahamic afterlife beliefs. Eternity doesn’t mean endless time like we experience it. Many theologians argue that in eternity, our assumptions and experiences about time don’t apply. Kim’s soul, whatever that means, could very well exist in eternity in whatever place god assigns it (preferably a tolerable one if god considers her an “anonymous christian,” despite her agnosticism), yet this soul could also inhabit the realm of time in Kim’s revived and restored body (and she’ll literally need a body because she got a neurosuspension) in Future World.
In other words, each outcome doesn’t necessarily have to exclude the other. I work with a woman who converted to Orthodox Christianity and has a side business selling icons, and apparently in that tradition a “mystery” doesn’t have the meaning of “puzzle” which the human mind can potentially solve and understand, as in our use of the phrase “murder mysteries.” Orthodox Christians believe that not only does the human mind not understand god’s mysteries; the human mind simply cannot understand them. Instead the Christian has to accept the mystery as a revelation of god’s transcendent sovereignty over creation. Kim’s revival might find some elbow room in this understanding of “mystery” for certain kinds of religionists who might otherwise consider her demon-possessed or a zombie.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_Christian
Mark, I’m curious. I gather you are a supporter of cryonics who is very critical of most proposed routes to reviving or reconstructing cryopreserved people. How would you hope to be revived if you are cryopreserved? And what probabilities would you input into Jeff Kaufman’s probability spreadsheet (adding your answers there would be very interesting, if you’d like)?