X-Message-Number: 3632
Date: Sat, 7 Jan 1995 16:26:28 -0500
From: 
Subject: CRYONICS misc.

On burnout and disenchantment:  

Mike Darwin is an intense young man (yes, you're still young, Mike) who has
devoted an incredible amount of time, effort, and creativity to cryonics and
with considerable success. But I wouldn't want his recent message to convey
to newcomers the idea that cryonics veterans are gloomy or despairing or have
paid a heavy price in life's various currencies. That is certainly true of
some, but I think not of most. Most of us--whether long or short
termers--find much comfort and satisfaction in it, without sacrificing much
of other opportunities. 

On identity/survival:

Reading about all these people who think they know the right answer, one is
reminded of the old saw: "Anyone who isn't thoroughly confused just doesn't
understand the situation." These questions are REAL and MAJOR and PERSONAL,
even though only a vanishingly small minority think them worthy of attention.
But the fact remains that we are far short of the information we need to form
any firm conclusion; in particular, we don't understand TIME (or spacetime).
And there is not even any  assurance that there EXISTS an answer (of a sort
satisfactory to us). So we just have to plough ahead and take the most
conservative measures we can to attempt to survive.

On the power of religion:

Mr. Coetzee says cryonics fails to offer the peace of mind provided by
religion. I think his analysis is highly questionable.

He seems to suggest that religion offers "peace of mind" when a death occurs
because the believers think the deceased has gone to heaven. But not all
religions teach this, and in any case it is obvious that not all adherents
really  believe this--at least, not on all levels of their minds. Otherwise,
they would not grieve so much for others or fear so much for themselves. (A
few do not, but most do.)  

The essence of religion, it seems to me, is in FELLOWSHIP  and DEDICATION. At
least, I know of no other elements common to all religions. In cryonics, the
lack has been in the strength of these. This is partly because immortalists
are mostly logical and individual and difficult to lead or meld into a mass
of any kind. In part it may be the lack of charismatic leaders. 

I don't know of any easy cure, except to try harder to emphasize friendship
and communality, perhaps using some of the tricks of nations, political
parties, religions, clubs, tribes, families, teams, ideologies, etc.

On marketing targets again and Mr. Wolfe's comments:

It is extremely doubtful that "people who are used to thinking about the long
term future" form especially likely recruits. Maybe slightly more likely--not
much. After all, the speculative physicists who write books about eschatology
are not in cryonics to any noticeable extent. Most people have compartmented
minds, and they engage in speculation or even "serious" long term planning
just for fun or profit or career advancement; they almost never take it
seriously on a PERSONAL level.

I don't know of any group that warrants special attention except--just
possibly--physicians. All others lose in numbers whatever small advantage
they offer in predisposition or in strategic value.

Yet again: The best thing most of us can do is what we KNOW we can do--commit
ourselves and our families and keep plugging along. Don't burn yourself out
in a short-lived high-energy attempt to find a magic wand, and don't lose
interest if progress is slower than you would like. We need MEMBERS, WORKERS,
and CONTRIBUTORS. At the least, you can give yourself and your family a
chance NOW.

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=3632