X-Message-Number: 4385 Date: 11 May 95 10:52:58 EDT From: "Kent, Saul" <> Subject: We're Different Bob Ettinger says he was recently asked what there was in his background to explain why he, rather than someone else, started the cryonics movement. His answer: "Beats me. As far as I know, my background and psychology or mind- sets are far from unique..." I agree with Bob that his background is far from unique, but I disagree with him about his psychology. The difference in Bob, and Ev Cooper, who started the first cryonics organization (The Life Extension Society) before the word cryonics had been coined, was that *their* response to the realization that they were dying (that's the appropriate word for "aging") was to think about what they could do about it, and--more importantly--to do it. Everyone else had thought about the fact that they were dying (for at least a few seconds, anyway), but only Bob (and Ev) *did* something about it. (Ev, unfortunately, only continued to do something about it for a few years). I contend that the difference in Bob's psychology was (and is) a *major* difference, not a minor one. In fact, I believe it is the differ- ence that makes all the difference in the world! When I first learned about Bob's idea in 1964, my *immediate* response was acceptance, enthusiasm, and a desire to participate. At first, I didn't think I was especially different from all my friends, *none* of whom felt as I did about the idea. As time went by, however, I realized that I was (and am) *very* different from my friends (of those days) and this difference has become more and more apparent with the passage of time. As far as recruitment goes, I believe that, as a result of the publicity cryonics has had over the years, there are many (my estimate is hundreds of thousands) people who think cryonics is a good idea, but have yet to commit themselves for one reason or another. I think we should focus our attention on finding those people and in dealing with the reasons they haven't yet signed up. I think the number one reason people haven't signed up yet is the deficiencies in today's cryonics services. My major effort in cryonics is thus currently aimed at helping to improve the quality of cryonics ser- vices through the support of low temperature research. ---Saul Kent Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=4385