It’s not like they’re likely to change their business model to online advertisement. And assuming the tech actually becomes available, what do you think the future post-singularity post-scarcity society will do? Keep them old-timer heads frozen out of spite?
Either way, it’s a matter of probability. 0.000000001% of survival is a lot more than 0%. By the looks of it there’s a lot of Everett branches out there, too. It seems worth a shot to some people.
I can just imagine the anger around the resources spent to acclimate these people. Anybody from 100 years ago is going to require a lot of help to reintegrate, including vocational training, language classes and subsidized housing. We can't even agree on providing meals in school for starving children.
Only as a curiosity, I always wondered how the payments are arranged with such a company.
I mean, is it a lump sum paid at the time of the freezing or is it monthly (or yearly) subscription fees?
If the first, the risk might be that once the company has made enough money, it simply folds, with the second, who is going to pay the subscription, heirs, but then they could change their mind or die themselves, or spend the money on something else.
Probably there should be a trust, or an escrow service of some kind (which BTW might have the same 100 years duration issue), but even in this case, how do you calculate the amount of money needed on it, will the money be invested in such a manner to compensate for inflation, what would happen in case of a financial crisis, etc.
Per Alcor's website, it's a monthly membership fee while you're alive (rate depending on your age when you sign up) plus listing Alcor as your beneficiary on your life insurance policy.
No idea if those two offer exactly the same service, but surely the cited prices are very different:
- Alcor 200,000 full body or 80,000 head only
- Cryonics between 28,000 and 35,000 full body
This latter even puts the other prices in their FAQ, to show how convenient is their offer.