Daughter says Ted Williams' body is being frozen

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 7/6/02 | New York Times News Service

[RedBloodedAmerican]

A Tedsicle!

[demlosers]

I really didn't have any idea on what the going price of a Ted Williams autograph was worth before his death. I am a Red Sox fan. And when I saw that picture of the 3 famous sluggers together, I thought it would be cool to have. I set a bid persona bid limit of $400.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

nope the soul stays in heaven. So he will have to be a lawyer instead of a ballplayer.

[NittanyLion]

Poor editing job by the newspaper.

That's okay, because the passage, "Bodies are rapidly cooled, usually in liquid nitrogen, to preserve DNA and tissue cells. The hope is that future medical advances could allow the bodies to be revived and cured." appears to be cut and pasted from this organization's website. Do a google search and check it out.

[Moonman62]

The human consciousness resides in the brain.

And the brain resides in the human consciousness.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Rumor is that Ted William's final instructions were that he was to be brought back to life...

The fact is that Ted Williams' final instructions were for cremation.

John Henry Williams is someone who needs to be seriously and laboriously examined by a psychiatrist. He is sick in the head and has been centering his existence on making a buck off of his father's fame.

Remember when Ted was on the mound at Fenway for the All Star game in 2000? Right before Ted threw out the first pitch, his son John Henry reached out and removed his dad's Red Sox cap and replaced it with a white cap with blue printing that said "Hitter.net"...John Henry's website devoted to selling Ted Williams memorabilia.

John Henry is a piece of sh!t.

[BlackRazor]

In any event, my real point was to draw the distinction between cryogenics and cryonics. They are not interchangeable terms. The former is a well-established, respected and legitimate field of scientific study. The latter is an experimental procedure that has yet to be proven viable. As one who has won awards in the field of cryogenics (*), I did not wish for the two fields of study to become confused.

(*) I won a gold medal (first place) in my 8th grade science fair for a project on cryogenics. :)

[Slyfox]

Probably by the time they figure out how to revive a dead body and give them new body parts, we all will recieve our new, gloried bodies. Well, at least for those of us planning on a cool eternity.

[baseballfanjm]

The fact that the soul leaves the body is why reviving the dead can't happen in my opinion. And even if you don't believe in a soul, I don't see how you'd revive someone dead. Wouldn't the brain be severely damaged by such a process? After all, 80 percent of our brain is water, and water expands in freezing. Wouldn't this damage brain tissue?

[baseballfanjm]

Remember when Ted was on the mound at Fenway for the All Star game in 2000? Right before Ted threw out the first pitch, his son John Henry reached out and removed his dad's Red Sox cap and replaced it with a white cap with blue printing that said "Hitter.net"...John Henry's website devoted to selling Ted Williams memorabilia

I didn't see that. He must have taken the hat off before he came on to the field because I remember Ted coming on to the field in that hitter.com hat. But anyway, the fact is that John Henry is trying to make a quick buck off his father's death.

[NittanyLion]

Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic there. Your comments are exactly right. Poor editing on the part of NYT (what's new?).

[NittanyLion]

John Henry is a piece of sh!t.

Bob Ryan of The Sports Reporters (ESPN) just said the same.

[cgbg]

The human consciousness resides in the brain. The people who only have their head frozen will have to have some sort of new body grown for them. But the ability to safely unthaw a frozen head and give it a new body still remains in the future.

Your statement is highly speculative. That dosen't mean it is wrong, it just means that at this point we don't know whether it is correct or not. There are some in this area who believe that the body is so fully integrated with consciousness that the Williams experiment would be doomed to failure. If I were going to incur the expense of freezing myself I would freeze the whole body just to increase the odds a bit... :-)

[Momaw Nadon]

I agree with you.

If I were to opt for cryonic suspension, I would have my whole body suspended instead of just my head.

Of course the brain is the most important part of the nervous system, but valuable memory and information may also be stored throughout the entire nervous system.

The assertion that the human consciousness resides not only in the brain, but also throughout the entire body may very well be true.

If it is true that Ted William's head is being frozen by Alcor, then I think the cost is about $50,000. Otherwise, I believe that Alcor charges over $120,000 for a full body suspension.

[Momaw Nadon]

Wouldn't the brain be severely damaged by such a process? After all, 80 percent of our brain is water, and water expands in freezing. Wouldn't this damage brain tissue?

Yes, the brain and the body are severely damaged by freezing, because the ice crystals that form are spikey and tear through the cells.

Supposedly, sometime in the future, nanorobots will be used to repair this kind of cellular damage.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

If it is true that Ted William's head is being frozen by Alcor, then I think the cost is about $50,000. Otherwise, I believe that Alcor charges over $120,000 for a full body suspension.

Gee whiz, even in death the sons are going on the cheap.

[baseballfanjm]

I view that as wishful thinking. I think that once the motor has stopped running, there's no starting it back up.

[steve-b]

Freeze his head only? If that is the extent of it, then there is no intention to bring him back to life - only to preserve DNA.

No; the intention of freezing the head is to build or grow a new body using the same future science that allows the frozen body to be revived and cured. If the intent was only to sell DNA, Williams' son could have frozen any old bit of flesh.

[steve-b]

Yes, freezing does damage to tissue. However, the hope is that future medical science will be able to reverse this damage. It might never be possible, but it certainly won't be possible if the body is left to decay normally.