X-Message-Number: 27712 From: "marta sandberg" <> Subject: Fear of a strange future Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:06:25 +0800 Kennita Watson wrote: I just spent an exhilarating weekend at the Frozen Dead Guy Days, talking to hundreds of people about cryonics. One or two of them mentioned being daunted by the prospect of overwhelming change, but by far the objections to cryonics that I heard the most often involved views of the afterlife, to the effect of either "I'm going to paradise" or "I'm going to be reincarnated". - - - - I have had similar reactions when I talk to people, but I have also learnt that the first (or second or third) reason they give for not choosing cryonics is probably not the true reason. If you keep on talking to them and knock down the straw men they put up ( . . . my cryonics arrangements are paid for by life insurance and the insurance cost less than $300 per year . . . heaven can wait, I don't intend to live forever only until I choose to die . . . if you don't like the future you can always commit suicide, if you don't try you would be dead anyway . . . nobody knows for sure it will work but you don't know that with any medical procedure . . . ); then you are likely to come to a few basic answers. One of those answers is fear of a strange future and lots of people have said that I am brave because I have chosen cryonics. Of course, the future is perceived as even more frightening if all your friends and relatives will be dead when/if you wake up. Let me add one more thing. Somehow or other, people perceiver the future as even more frightening because you are not SURE you will actually wake up. Go figure. Marta _________________________________________________________________ careerone.com.au http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fadsfac%2Enet%2Flink%2Easp%3Fcc%3DNWS014%2E19163%2E0%26clk%3D1%26creativeID%3D28927&_t=752722611&_m=EXT Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=27712