X-Message-Number: 19081
From: "Robert Moore" <>
References: <>
Subject: Sign-up decision
Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 05:08:25 -0700

Dear Damien,

Perhaps your personal calculus of cyronics gives you a negative answer, but
have you considered that if you signed up publicly, you could potentially
save thousands of lives?

As techniques slowly improve there are going to be people living now and
later whose lives are saved by cryonics.  If it were generally known that
you had signed up, or even better, if you called a news conference to
announce you signing up, and even 10 people, even 1 person, chose cryonics
because of hearing about or being influenced by your decision, it could,
through "network effects" over time result in thousands signing up and
eventually being saved.

Human culture is a huge ship and has enormous momentum in the direction of
accepting death, but ever little push helps.  You writing has no doubt
contributed to changing the direction of human thought, and you signing up
publically would give another push.

Robert

> I should add that I am also an sf writer (not a `sci-fi' writer, shudder)
> who's written approvingly about cryonics--as in my latest novel
> TRANSCENSION--but I'm not signed up either. Why not? Too ancient for cheap
> insurance, too poor, too distant, in Australia, from the few moderately
> reliable cryonics installations in the USA, too likely to be found rotting
> a week after I've died alone in the house (my partner Barbara usually
lives
> thousands of miles distant), too unconvinced that revival processes will
> work with corpses vitrified using today's methods. But if I suddenly
> stumble upon a few million dollars, I think I'd take the option.
>
> Damien Broderick
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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