X-Message-Number: 5249
Newsgroups: sci.cryonics
From:  (Marvin Minsky)
Subject: Re: What my 7th graders thought of cryonics last spring.....
Message-ID: <>
References: <48t3ap$>
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 1995 06:36:13 GMT

In article <48t3ap$> Randy <> writes:
>As a writing exercise for my 7th grade classes (about 125 kids) last 
>spring, I made copies of Platt's Omni article on cryonics and we read and 
>discussed the general idea of cryonics and the ancillary issues such as 
>insurance and nanotechnology. (Many were already somewhat familiar with 
>the basic principle from TV/movie sci-fi.) After a good deal of 
>explanation (nanotechnology took some explaining!) we had a classroom 
>discussion and I had them do some writing on the matter.
>
>  I was interested in how many of them would look favorably on cryonics 
>and how many unfavorably, etc.
>
> Roughly 30% or so went firmly opposed to cryonics, mainly on religious 
>grounds, and some were just generally repulsed by the "gory details."
>
> Another 40% or so were indifferent to the concept. Of course about that 
>percentage of 13 year olds are indifferent to any concept whatsoever.

In my Scientific American article, last fall, I mentioned a similar
incident:

	"Whatever the unknown future may bring, already we're changing
the rules that made us. Although most of us will be fearful of change,
others will surely want to escape from our present limitations.  When
I decided to write this article, I tried these ideas out on several
groups and had them respond to informal polls. I was amazed to find
that at least three quarters of the audience [opposed the prospect of
having much longer lives. Many people] seemed to feel that our life
spans were already too long. "Why would anyone want to live for five
hundred years?  Wouldn't it be boring?  What if you outlived all your
friends?  What would you do with all that time?" they asked.  It
seemed as though they secretly feared that they did not deserve to
live so long.  I find it rather worrisome that so many people are
resigned to die.  Might not such people be dangerous, who feel that
they do not have much to lose?"


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