X-Message-Number: 31540
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2009 09:02:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: rr ss <>
Subject: immortalist bible

you wrote:
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From: "Kennita (Go Cryo!)" <>
Subject: Re: the immortalist Bible and cryonics
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2009 04:02:31 -0700
References: <>

I think it's a bad idea to put cryonics in
the same bin with resurrection and immortality.
It seems disingenuous, because cryonicists
don't see themselves as dead in the same sense,
resurrection as the blissful reward in the same
sense, or immortality as necessarily eternal in
the same sense, that Christians generally mean.
To claim we do can label us as liars and
charlatans, or as dupes and victims, depending
on how charitable the particular Christian is
feeling.


My reply:


But the fact is that cryonics serves some of the same purposes for us that 
religion serves for the faithful. It wards off our fear of death and allows us 
to be functional. And yes, it just might make us immortal.


I am even certain that the same brain circuits are involved in cryonics and 
religion. So many cryonicists discover cryonics and have a sort of epiphany--a 
sort of euphoric wonder is aroused by the discovery of this wonderful endeavor. 
They are "born again". 


Undoubtedly, we humans are evolved to be able have this reawakening via 
religion, and thus obtain a sense of belonging, a renewal of purpose, etc. This 
has long provided homo sapiens with survival advantages, allowing us to go on 
living, reproducing and helping our children and grandchildren to survive and 
pass on their genes as well.


Religion is the natural ally of cryonics. Yes, science is the way to implement 
cryonics. But religion is the way to MARKET it because cryonics is in many ways 
a substitute for religion. Science based and not faith based, however.

There is no inherent contradiction between science/technology and religion

If you are an engineer building a church for a congregation, trust me, they 
don't want you to use faith and spirituality to build that church. They want you
to use all the power of science and technology to build that church.


And if you preach the cryogospel, the gospel that maintains that to be a good 
christian, you must be a good cryonicist and help Jesus raise the dead, then 
your congregation will want a cryonics provider that uses science to get the 
best possible cryopreservation.


Frankly, one of the biggest impediments to growth in cryonics is that there is a
common personal characteristic of cryonics to "remain pure and unsullied." This
sort of mindset is also prevalent in libertarians. But does it get results in 
the real world?


As for the issues of hypocrisy, impurity of thought, charlatanism etc., that 
might arise if religion is used to justify cryonics, I think that getting 
results is the most important thing. If one were to use this idea to get rich, 
that would be a different thing. But we cryonics are "pure," right? Cryo-monks, 
right?

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