X-Message-Number: 31604 From: David Stodolsky <> Subject: Ex-Communist and Nordic countries as markets for cryonics Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:25:26 +0200 Ronald Inglehart & Wayne E. Baker MODERNIZATION, CULTURAL CHANGE, AND THE PERSISTENCE OF TRADITIONAL VALUES American Sociological Review, 2000, Vol. 65 (February:19-51) 19. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.com/Upload/5_19-51_IN.PDF "The ex-Communist dummy variable correlates .43 with the traditional/ secular-rational dimension and -.74 with the survival/self-expression dimension " (p. 34). I interpret this to mean that these countries are more individual survival oriented, while less religious. Thus, they are likely to be good candidates for the traditional marketing strategy of cryonics. It is therefore no surprise that the only new cryonics firm in recent history was started in Russia. The fact that there are some very wealthy individuals in Russia as a result of the transition to capitalism, makes cryonics easily affordable for them. So, this is support for my atheist-millionaire criterion for signups. Sweden, Norway, W. Germany, Denmark are the countries most suitable culturally for a group marketing strategy (Fig 3). These countries are high on both the traditional versus secular-rational orientations and survival versus self-expression values. That is, less religious and more collectively oriented. They are also high income countries, making cryonics economically accessible. Finally: "If any societies exemplify the cutting edge of cultural change, it would be the Nordic countries" (p. 49). This finding suggests that if the cryonics movement is to be prepared for the future, then some initiative in these countries would be appropriate. dss David Stodolsky Skype: davidstodolsky Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=31604