X-Message-Number: 32644
Subject: Re: Religion & Cryonics
From: David Stodolsky <>
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:01:46 +0200
References: <>

On 20 Jun 2010, at 11:00 AM, CryoNet wrote:


> So cryonicist philosophers need to understand this widespread intuition about 
"spirits" and the afterlife, and understand why it is intuitive, and what the 
alternatives would be, and how to explain them to the general public.


It isn't philosophers, but psychologists who study intuitions. Terror management
theory gives a pretty good explanation:



<http://cosmism.blogspot.com/2010/05/existentialism-today-terror-management.html>

Any alternative would offer another approach to dealing with the fear of death.


Explaining cryonics to the general public would require presenting an 
alternative that is as close as possible to the currently accepted methods for 
dealing with this fear. So, for example, instead of forcing people to signup 
with a suspension provider, we could offer membership in a 'church'. We could 
avoid introducing new words or making common words take on a new meaning, as 
much as possible. Instead of calling suspended people 'patients,' we could call 
them 'suspendees', which has more positive associations from science fiction. 
Instead of explaining what 'cryonics' is, we could talk about 'mummification at 
low temperatures'. 


Many people already believe that reversible suspension is technologically 
feasible. Many believe that aliens have landed on the Earth and therefore that 
space travel is practical. So, we can take advantage of these preexisting 
beliefs. The same psychology that drives belief in "spirits", is probably 
responsible for these other beliefs. The Realian religion demonstrates that 
there are plenty of people ready to hand over large sums of money to anyone 
offering support for these types of beliefs. I lay out this argument in more 
detail in my podcast:

<http://cosmism.blogspot.com/2010/01/salvation-in-space-age-or-how-does.html>



With a small investment, roughly the amount wasted every year in the Movement at
the moment, a new organizational model could be tested. Success would mean 
recruitment of between a few hundred and a few thousand new cryonicists in a few
years. 


dss

David Stodolsky
  Skype: davidstodolsky

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