X-Message-Number: 15815
Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2001 12:45:33 -0700
From: "Raphael T. Haftka" <>
Subject: on similarities between Cryonics and religion

I often tell people that cryonics is my religion. I tell them that one of 
the functions of religion is to lessen one's dread and anxiety of dying, 
and this is what cryonics does for me. I tell them that as an engineer, I 
find it easier to imagine that I will be revived due to advancements in 
science and technology rather than because there is a god that wants to 
reward me for good behavior.  Yesterday I finished reading John Updike's 
1997 novel, The Beauty of the Lilies, and it reminded me of another 
parallel between religion and cryonics.

One of the protagonists ends up in a cult and perishes in a Waco type blaze 
(it takes place in Colorado rather than Texas, but Updike acknowledges 
researching Waco for material). One of the cult members invokes Pascal's 
logic for following the cult leader, which I have forgotten. Pascal claimed 
that even if the probability of there being a god is very small, the payoff 
for accepting religion is infinite (eternal life), and so if you play the 
probabilities, you must believe in God and be religious so that you can go 
to heaven.

Raphael (Rafi) Haftka
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Mechanics and Engineering
University of Florida
  until 5/10/01 at
MS 1110
Sandia National Laboratory              Tel: 505-844-9576
PO Box 5800                             Fax: 505-845-7442
Albuquerque, NM 87185

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