X-Message-Number: 16534
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 01:47:05 -0400
From: Deathist Lurker Girl <>
Subject: Marketing cryonics

Scott Badger wrote:

My recent experience has led me to suspect that one of
several reasons why cryonics is so hard to market is
because many people aren't sifficiently scared of
death. We as a society have divorced ourselves from
the horror of death by having the sick and elderly
removed from our homes and placed into institutions
where we pay others to care for them and watch them
die. Death has become too abstract to many of us. That
makes it easier to deny the terror of its eventuality.
Now what cryonics really needs is a snappy theme song.
Maybe we could borrow a popular tune. How about this
one?
  [snip "Deathbusters" lyrics and remainder of Scott's message]


There's no denying that a snappy tune might help.  Human beings are known 
to be emotionally stirred more by meaningful lyrics set to music than by 
the bare words themselves.

However, a major stumbling block to me is the seeming lack of a warm, 
welcoming community of cryonicists who seem genuinely interested in 
"evangelizing" cryonics, *yet at the same time* are respectful of the 
rights of others to decline their chance at immortality.  The overall 
approach being something like, "You're fine just the way you are, and we 
accept your right to make your own choices, but we have something we think 
is very desirable, and we'd like to tell you more about it..."

I would be more inclined to want to support or join a group whose members:

- Had compassion and nonviolence among their chief goals (not exemplified 
by threats of being willing to "fight" for a spot in a lifeboat- because if 
that's the way we're going to behave, why not just set the time machine in 
reverse and be a couple of Neanderthals scrapping over an animal carcass? I 
mean, what would be the difference?)
- Respected people for who they were, and not for their potential to be 
"molded," by whatever means, into another person's ideal
- Didn't take themselves so terribly seriously, and were able to laugh at 
themselves as well as "kid around" affectionately with others
- Granted full rights of autonomy to other human beings without the 
slightest threat of their being discriminated against, coerced, or 
manipulated based on differences of philosophy or opinion
- Cooperated with each other instead of being locked in spiteful and 
wasteful competition
- Minimized egotism, gratefully recognized each person's contribution to 
the whole,  and were more interested in the overall advancement of 
*humankind* than focused on "what's in it for me."

And, yeah, love... hearts and flowers...because I'm cheesy like that.  When 
I think of a "community," I think of people *caring* about one 
another.  That doesn't mean you never disagree, but it does mean that you 
value your connection with your peers enough that you are not easily 
estranged by disagreements.  It also means that you're not nasty to one 
another for no good reason.  And if you are, you apologize.

Okay, before this starts sounding any more like "All I Needed to Know I 
Learned in Kindergarten" (or whatever the title of that book was), I'm 
going to bid y'all a fond goodnight.


DLG

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