X-Message-Number: 28170
References: <>
From: David Stodolsky <>
Subject: Re: Recent discussion with Ben Best.
Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2006 23:23:37 +0200

On 4 Jul 2006, at 06:06, John Dullon wrote:

> What would be ideal for a cryonics organisation (with a donation of 1
> million $USD):

The most serious threats to cryonics organizations are socio- 
political. Significant advances are also most likely to be socio- 
political. The total lack of social science research remains a major  
weakness.

Historically, the major dangers have been organizational failure  
(Chatsworth) and government attack (Dora Kent case). In these cases  
individuals were lost or provision of services were threatened. There  
was major negative press associated with each of these and with the  
more recent Ted Williams incident (including the ALCOR "defector").  
The ongoing political pressures in Arizona and Vancouver illustrate  
that these types of problems will continue.

While growth appears to be exponential, the entire movement could  
still be destroyed by government action or even by a small group of  
fanatical opponents willing to use force. It is very likely these  
types of threats will develop eventually, given current trends. The  
major countermeasures are accelerated growth and diversification in  
the placement of facilities. Active and ongoing public education and  
political lobbying would both facilitate these countermeasures, and  
assist marketing efforts.

The very preliminary data analysis in this area suggests that  
appropriately targeted marketing could increase the effectiveness of  
promotional investments by a factor of three. It is likely that even  
this could be increased dramatically with basic research and action  
research-based projects.

Until the cryonics movement becomes a significant political force, it  
will not be able to offer a dependable service, regardless of  
advances in preservation technology. Achieving political significance  
will require massive growth in both numbers and capital.  
Unfortunately, there is no institution, or even individual, that has  
the responsibility to even map out a path to this stable position.


dss

David Stodolsky    Skype: davidstodolsky

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