X-Message-Number: 32281
From: David Stodolsky <>
Subject: Re: Avatar better than Lord of the Rings
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2010 22:11:01 +0100
References: <>

On 2 Jan 2010, at 11:00 AM, CryoNet wrote:

> I know that Lord of the Rings was popular amongst many cryonicists  
> when it
> came out and thought I should give everyone a heads up on Avatar,  
> which is a
> James Cameron movie.  Not only is the story compelling, but the  
> visuals were
> off the chart.  Once the movie was over the audience gave a good  
> round of
> applause.

Cameron takes advantage of the current climate madness with a machines  
vs. Greens fantasy. It appeals to the 'Green Left' that is sure that  
the imagined environmental crisis will lead to the collapse of  
capitalism:



<http://www.amazon.com/Enemy-Nature-End-Capitalism-World/product-reviews/1842770810/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
 >

It appeals to the religious right, since it confirms their belief in  
an immortal soul (that can be transferred between bodies or integrated  
with 'god'). (Probably also to the religious/spiritual left that  
support the Gaia hypothesis and belief in the sanctity of 'Nature').  
(And maybe to Transhumanist who believe they don't need cryonics,  
since they can be 'uploaded'.)

Unfortunately, all of these tendencies reinforce attitudes that are  
hostile to cryonics. Cryonics is clearly in the 'machine' camp.  
Religious belief is the best indicator of avoidance of information on  
cryonics. Those who oppose doing anything 'against nature' are  
typically opposed to any kind of life-extension technology.

It probably also adds some confusion about what cryonics is, since the  
line 'you don't dream when you are in cryo'  makes no sense from a  
scientific standpoint.

If Avatar develops a cult following, it could be a breeding ground for  
a green terrorist movement along the lines of the Animal Liberation  
Front, but with a wider agenda:

http://www.animalliberationfront.com/



<http://books.google.com/books?id=VMKFBr3ZVDUC&dq=Animal+Liberation+Front&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=7qNAS6r1HdH6_AbxtMyGAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=19&ved=0CFMQ6AEwEg#v=onepage&q=Animal%20Liberation%20Front&f=false
 >

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WTSUGetKFc


The efforts of the Bush administration to classify environmental  
activists as terrorists has also probably set the stage for this  
happening, since their effort was to convince people that it already  
was true and it has created martyrs:



<http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/25/exclusive_animal_rights_activist_jailed_at
 >



<http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/23/exclusive_environmental_activist_jeff_free_luers
 >



dss


David Stodolsky
  Skype: davidstodolsky

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