X-Message-Number: 5565
From: Randy Smith <>
Newsgroups: sci.cryonics
Subject: Re: Cryomania, an introduction...
Date: 10 Jan 1996 08:44:54 GMT
Message-ID: <4cvua6$>

References: <4ch85p$> <4cmd83$> 
<>

 (Brad Templeton) wrote:
>I expect that one big difference between youth and adults is attitudes on
>death.
>
>I mean that by far the most common objection I hear when explaining
>cryonics, once you get past explaining how it might work, is,
>"But why do you want to live forever?  It's part of the natural order
>to die."
>
>It is indeed part of the natural order to die, and in this newsgroup
>people have already discussed that issue to death, but I'm coming to the
>conclusion that, in many cases, like religion, there are just some people
>who believe this and some who don't, and there's not a lot of crossing
>of the line to be done.
>

I've noticed that bit about not"crossing the line" when I've tried out 
the idea of cryonics on other people. It seems that once people 
develop a set world-view, it's very hard to change that, especially 
with respect to a previously immutable idea like death.

You have to wonder what separates cryonicists from the vast majority. I 
recently read a interesting book , _Cryonics_, by Sheshkin. The author 
also talked about the iconoclastic psychological makeup of cryonicists, 
but she never really tried to analyze what sort of common influences the 
cryonicists had. Now, as for myself, I read alot of science fiction as a 
youth. I've long since given it up, but I think the exposure helps me see 
the possibilities here. I wonder how many other cryonicists have that in 
common.

>This is not surprising.  Mortality is such a horrible concept that
>societies and philosophies have naturally attempted to adapt to it and
>to accept or embrace it.  It's a big cause of what you might call "the
>religion thing."  With good reason.   Prior to cryonics, railing against
>the inevitability of death was even more fruitless than railing against
>taxes.   It would drive you nuts to constantly fear it, instead we learn
>simply to accept that it's coming and make the best we can of the life
>we have.
>
>It's very hard to undo the lifetime of training that makes us do that.

That's why it's important, I feel, to get the  message out to kids before 
their view of life is set in concrete. In some ways Hollywood is already 
doing this for us. When I spent a class period on cryonics with my 7th 
graders last year, at least half of them were already familiar with the 
idea from a recent movie, _Demolition Man_. The movie, while not exactly 
Oscar material, was not that bad, and was really second cousin to your 
basic video game, aimed more or less at kids.


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