X-Message-Number: 12873 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: about a facility for "dying" cryonicists Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:41:06 +1100 (EST) For Dave Pizer: I am unfortunately not rich enough to make a major donation. But I will say that from my own experiences I quite understand the need for the kind of facility you suggest, and the failure of most cryonicists (who now are highly intelligent, competent individuals) to really understand the state they will be in when they're dying. And that misunderstanding is hardly helped by the picture of death shown everywhere in movies, fiction, TV etc etc etc endlessly. Dying people are generally fully competent mentally --- so goes the picture. That is quite incorrect. For what it's worth, I would suggest: 1. That this refuge for suspension patients start as small as possible (though if possible on a land where it can grow). That keeps its immediate setup cost down. 2. That however small, it is big enough to give privacy to patients staying there ie. they should not all be put in a joint ward, but have rooms of their own. Basically, I suggest this because dying should happen with privacy. But perhaps more pertinent, each patient may require separate treatment and want to be visited by different people. 3. That if at all possible means should be found by which those who contribute get some profit out of it. For instance, they might get much lower cost stays when their time came, or even zero cost stays. Or they receive a percentage of the rental income paid by patients. Or they have priority if the call for beds in this refuge becomes more than the available number of beds. Or other methods I haven't listed here and haven't thought of. If this does nothing else, it will make parting with the money required less burdensome than if doing so was a pure charity which might only affect THEM many years in the future. And yes, if asked I'm happy to make some contribution, but it's very unlikely to be enough alone to build or buy such a facility. Best and long long life to all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=12873