Clients of the only Russian cryocompany speak about life in the anticipation of resurrection pt.1

Cryonics is one of the most famous ways among the others which is aimed to prolong humans’ lives.Nowadays, there is simply no evidence that frozen bodies can be revived and restored in the future. Anyway, lots of people around the world are eager to spend thousands of dollars just for the hope of the second life for themselves and their loved ones.There are only four cryocompanies today — three of them are located in the USA and only one — in Russia. Despite the very high cost of this procedure and the absence of any guarantee, 54 people have been already cryonically preserved in Russia for the last 14 years. We will publish the stories of people who have a contract for a cryopreservation (for themselves of their family member’s).

Igor
84 years old, professor of philosophy, Chelyabinsk

Being a student, I was thinking about this inevitable law which action leads to ageing and death. Why did people so much succeed in science and mastering space, but couldn’t defeat their main enemy? The questions of life-prolonging and death overcoming have become my calling since that time. I have written 17 books and a lot of scientific articles on these topics during 60 years of my scientific work. Now I work at the South Ural State University as a professor in the Department of Philosophy, I have a Ph.D. in Philosophy.

When I had just found out about Russian company for human cryopreservation, my wife and I signed a pact for cryopreservation of the brain. We started to pay money in instalments under the contract, allocating for this my advance from the salary. That time it was easier to do as the rate was much smaller and $200 was not such a big sum. In addition, the company has determined the cost not in 12 but six thousand dollars. When my wife had passed away, we combined our contributions and that amount was enough.

None of us is sure that cryonics can give a 100% effect. Unfortunately, the technology is still rather imperfect and there have been numerous unfortunate instances throughout history, right up to the fact that electricity was turned off and the contents of the dewars were defrosted. But for now, this is the only possible option to keep living with the possibility of its further extension.

Our relatives considered this idea favourably, and my son, who recently celebrated 50 years old, would like to sign a pact too, but it‘s very expensive with the dollar’s growth rate.

My wife died in the end of July 2011. The first thing I did was to call Medvedev (Danila Medvedev, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the cryocompany — Ed.), he told me to put something cold around the head. But that year the summer was extremely hot and the doctor was coming long. It took much time until she could be taken to the morgue for preservation, and perfusion was done the next day only. In general, everything was not so fast, as had been required. Unfortunately, everything is still very unreliable.

I don’t perceive the death of my wife as an irretrievable loss, he has just temporarily gone for me. As for the future, I don’t know what is next for us. I don’t know whether it’s all possible or not at all. But we have done everything we could, and this is the main thing. When we decided to sign a pact for cryopreservation, my wife and I proceeded from the fact that we were getting old, that sooner or later everything will end in death and this must be somehow countered.

Of course we couldn’t build any special plans concerning our new life because there are no real premises and no one knows what will happen and how it will be. Will we hold our personal memories? Will we stay in the relationship or everyone will find a new soul mate? I don’t know. Technologies that will be used to revitalize a person are still unknown, so I’m trying not to fantasize much on this account. Anyway, in my opinion, the most reliable, understandable and real thing for today is the restoration of life via cloning.

By now, there already exists a lot of cloned mammals. Cloning originates from the same cell which the person had been born from. In many respects, he or she should resemble himself or herself physically and mentally and possess certain traits of character, habits, inclinations, desires.

Even if the person doesn’t have personal memories, he or she will most likely be the same person. For example, while we are still alive, we forget a lot, but at the same time, we remain ourselves. there always will be photos, videos, documentation — and all this will tell the person exactly how and with whom was this life going, about his or her success etc.

But this all seems unprincipled to me. The main thing is that a person who has died is able to live again and to make this life was limitless. This is not the absolute immortality which the religious doctrines speak about when it is dealt with the soul. This is such kind of immortality that can be interrupted by trauma, illness or accident. But this is an interruption, which will go on with the restoration of life and its continuation one more time.

The main thing is that a person can live a new conscious life and learn things better than it had been his previous life. For example, I have been blind for almost 70 years and so I don’t see the world around me, but in a new life I can see again and take it consciously, fully perceiving this world, and not just remembering or recreating the old life. It will be a normal second life, a person will be able to make up for everything that he had been unable or had failed to do.

Taken from The Village (http://www.the-village.ru)
The translation of the article: Darya Goncharenko.