X-Message-Number: 30042
From: 
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:06:06 EST
Subject: fear addendum

Although it's only an anecdote and not important anyway, it might be of  some 
small interest to note my own recollection of near-death  experiences.
 
I do not mean the reported visions or revelations some people claim--only  

the fact of having been objectively close to death, or in substantial danger of
dying very soon.
 
I have been near death five times--not counting ordinary days under fire on  
the battlefield in wartime--and recall being afraid only once. Of course any  
number of conjectures could be made about these recollections--maybe I have  
doctored the memories or suppressed others, or maybe the fear was there but  
repressed, blah blah blah. But I trust my memories more than I trust the  

slipshod polls and interviews conducted by psychologists trying to  get 
published. 
 
Incidentally, there is a fairly common misapprehension abroad to the effect  
that soldiers are most afraid when first under fire, then grow tougher with  
experience. The reverse is true. The ones most afraid are those who have been  
exposed longest. 
 
In life in general, however, it is usually the younger who are most  afraid 
of death. Older people are less likely to be afraid, or likely to be less  

afraid, as judged by what they say and what they do--even though this generality
is skewed by the bravado of young men, driven by testosterone and culture. 
 
I have become less and less fearful as I age, and as far as I can tell the  

only thing that frightens me now is the prospect of a stroke. Those so inclined
 can shrug this off as a mere anecdote with little or no evidentiary value,  
but I also observe this in others. The reasons for less fear in the general  
aging population is probably primarily a loss of vitality or zest, including  
declining physical and mental powers, plus in many cases a recognition that  
previous goals are out of reach and that there is a degree of comfort in  

relaxing rather than struggling. In addition, our emotional lives to some extent
are tied to our parents and others of the older generation, who are  now gone. 
There is hardly anybody left that you want to impress, or who can  give you 
meaningful support, with few exceptions other than your children  and siblings 
and a very few friends, if you are lucky.
 
Institutions can sometimes offer help--churches and fraternal  organizations 
and so on--but for the most part this help requires you to accept  various 

kinds of delusion. It has been often observed that cryonics  organizations 
should 
imitate the social functions of other institutions, but  again, for the near 
term, this is probably out of reach because of our small  numbers and 
disparate styles of life.
 
I see I've been rambling. Ah, well. No one is compelled to read this stuff.  
At this point I think I will just ask again, if anyone is willing to  answer, 
what Alcor's experience has been with hired PR people. If you are  willing to 
respond, please be specific--how much was spent, what was done,  objective 
results in terms of new memberships. 
 
Robert Ettinger



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