X-Message-Number: 33140
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2010 12:52:31 -0800
Subject: Signing up older people
From: Brian Wowk <>

"Unperson" wrote:


> We have to concentrate on OLDER people. Young people do not generally sign up.
We have to look to those we really realize they are indeed going to die. Young 
people do not really realize this viscerally enough to get them to sign up.

     This is not a good idea.  Aside from living down to the worst
negative stereotypes of cryonics, there are real issues with financial
hardship, informed consent, and patient burden in deliberately seeking
to sign up older people for cryonics.  The idea seems to be based on a
false premise that having lots of cryopreserved people in need of
future revival is a good thing.  Living members make cryonics
organizations strong.  Cryopreserved patients are a tremendous
obligation for ongoing care and revival at an expense and difficulty
that is still unknown.  I understand that the point of cryonics is to
cryopreserve people and get them back, but for cryonics to work at all
there will have to be a sufficient number of young living people
interested enough in cryonics to keep it going vs. cryopreserved
people.

     As a matter of cryonics history, the greatest interest in
cryonics has actually been among the young.  Proportionately more
cryonics activists became activists while they were young rather than
old.

---BW

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