X-Message-Number: 10022
From: "Scott Badger" <>
Subject: Will they need it when they want it?
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 08:42:20 -0500

Hi everyone,

I've repeatedly heard it said that finding cures for all our diseases and
reversing the aging process will be much less of a challenge than repairing
the cellular damage brought about by the cryopreservation process.  If so,
this begs the question; "Why would skeptics need cryonics by the time
they're willing to consider it?"  If the skeptic survives to the time when
cryonics reliably *works*, and it's endorsed by celebrity scientists and the
media, then s/he probably won't need to be frozen since death and disease
will already have been conquered.  I can imagine that cryonics will continue
to be useful as an emergency procedure for accidental deaths (which will
also decline in the future) as well as some other relatively rare
circumstances, but the overall implication is that if cryonics must be shown
to work before people are convinced to sign up, then why do we think they
will flock to sign up once it does and they don't need it anymore?  The last
thing I want to do is sound pessimistic here and I'm completely in favor of
further research, but if it is fundamentally accepted that recruiting
efforts will be relatively fruitless because cryonics doesn't work yet, then
we seem to be in a no-win situation.  They won't sign up until it works, but
by the time it works, they won't need to.  Bottom line. . .few recruits.
This will certainly not deter me from eventually (I know, I know) signing
up.  I don't expect cryonics to work before I *deanimate*, so waiting is the
bigger gamble to me.  But it concerns me that the above, if true, implies
continued low membership levels which may eventually threaten the viability
of the firm I select to freeze me.

Now, would someone please poke some holes in this hypothesis (like I had to
ask).

Best regards,

Scott Badger

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