X-Message-Number: 1750 Date: 15 Feb 93 11:01:39 EST From: Charles Platt <> Subject: CRYONICS Personality types To: Cryonet February 11, 1993 At various times I have seen casual references to the typical cryonics personality type as being independent, stubborn, opinionated, and so on. But has the cryonics personality type been defined in more rigorous detail? In particular, has anyone noted the seemingly unusual closeness that many cryonicists have with their mothers? This is not meant to sound pejorative; it is in fact a feature of my own life, although in my case I chose to break the bond by moving 3000 miles away. There are well-known cases where cryonicists have endured considerable sacrifices a) to get their mothers signed up and paid for, and b) to get their mothers safely (?) suspended. Last year on Cryonet, to take just one example, there was a remarkable testimonial from Jerry White idolizing his mother. I have my own half-baked theories about this. One is that you need a lot of belief in yourself to swim strongly against the stream of public opinion, and an intensely supportive maternal relationship can help to provide this. Another possibility is that a close maternal relationship protects the child from being "toughened up" by life--i.e. forced to suppress various fears, such as fear of death. But the possibility which seems most plausible is that the maternal relationship heightens one's awareness of life on one hand, and death on the other; because when one experiences life THROUGH another person (as happens if the maternal figure is powerful and overbearing), being separated from that person feels very much like death. Indeed, in separation anxiety, the sufferer may feel as if he no longer exists. This "death terror" (which I have experienced) makes the individual more aware of "the void" and hence more likely to do something about it--to safeguard himself, and/or the parent. I'm interested in exploring this out of pure curiosity, and because I like to understand the gut-level drives in people (including myself). I see no practical application in terms of finding new members. --Charles Platt Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=1750