X-Message-Number: 25298
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 19:52:26 -0500
From: Joseph Bloch <>
Subject: Re: IS CRYONICS ISOLATIONIST ?
References: <>


First of all, greetings all. It's my first time writing to the list. My 
application to Alcor is in and being processed (insurance is squared away), and 
I hope to be an official Alcor member in a few weeks. 

Randolfe Wicker wrote:

>
>Message #25272
>Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 10:33:53 -0500
>

>Is cryonics isolationist?  I have wondered about that idea since becoming 
involved here.  I immensely enjoy keeping up on daily news and postings.  
However, I find that few "cryonics first" people are involved at The Immortality
Institute although most of those most active there see cryonics as their only 
"option" for defeating death at this time.
>  
>
I think you'll find there are several factors at work here. First, of 
course, ImmInst isn't the only group out there working on radical life 
extension.  Secondly, I view cryonics only as a last resort; if my LE 
regimen doesn't quite get me to the point where practical emortality is 
within my grasp, being cryonically suspended at least gives me a shot at 
it sometime in the future. A better chance, at any rate, than _not_ 
being suspended. So, for myself and others who view practical life 
extension as being a more immediate cause worthy of, if you will, 
evangelism, it's not a question of not identifying myself as a 
cryonicist, but I am other things first, and those other things demand 
my energy before cryonics.

(Naturally, it's not entirely a zero-sum game, and if I can boost the 
viability of cryonics to actually work, at a relatively minimal 
investment on my part, I will. But it all comes down to an allocation of 
priorities.)


>I would like to see more passionate cryonauts posting there.  As you will see 
from the introduction about distributing a small four-inch flier at a conference
in NYC last Thursday night, we share "exclusion" with several other groups.
>

I wish I could have attended the meeting myself (I was supposed to, 
actually, but couldn't make it due to illness). As a Transhumanist 
myself, I am well aware of, and see the need to counter, bioLuddites on 
both right and left. I hadn't been aware they had explicitly included 
cryonics (it certainly didn't make it into Fukiyama's "most dangerous 
idea in the world" hit-piece a few months ago).

How did it go handing out your flyer? Any immediate reactions?

Joseph

Enhance your body "beyond well" and your mind "beyond normal":
http://www.humanenhancement.com

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