X-Message-Number: 6072
From: Randy Smith <>
Newsgroups: sci.cryonics

Subject: Review of Sheskin's _Cryonics_:A sociology of Death and Bereavement  
Part I
Date: 13 Apr 1996 03:38:52 GMT
Message-ID: <4kn7kc$>

I find  myself with an idle evening and so will belatedly follow Kevin 
Brown's suggestion and review this 1979 book by Arlene Sheskin, a PhD 
candidate in sociology (?) at Central Michigan University.

The book explores the world of cryonics from the viewpoint of a 
sociological scientist and focuses on people involved with the 
(pseudonymous?) Eastern Cryonics Society. She conducted numerous 
interviews with about 30 cryonicists.

Chapter 1. Examining Cryonics:

Sheskin's primary interest is comparing/contrasting cryonicists' 
worldview and stance towards death with American society in general, esp. 
regarding death's stigma, e.g. death denial, and shunning & avoidance of 
the bereaved survivors [I'll skip most of that stuff--deadly dull; this 
is primarily a chronicle of the dynamics & history of  early (defunct?) 
cryo societies and the personal & collective  attitudes of the 
cryonicists interviewed by Sheskin].

 Refreshingly, Sheskin rejects the psychological  assertion that people 
who hold unusual beliefs [yeah, that's us] do so because of personal 
inadequacies which cannot be satisfied through conventional channels. She 
also rejects the notion that we are irrational. In closing Chapter 1, she 
introduces a recurring theme: how cryonicists see rationality and logic 
as their guiding light regarding cryonics.

Chapter II  The Mechanics of Suspension

Introduced with the "Nelson" case (pseudonym) of a son who was frozen by 
his mother; she said having this done helped her with her grief; later 
she says she herself would not want another chance at this life.

 Sheskin gives a brief history of cryonics' genesis and Ettinger's 
seminal book and media promotions of same. 
She details the mechanics of suspension, including storage in what 
Eastern Cryonics called the "Forever Flask," a giant "thermos bottle."

Also covered are the troubles related to inadequate suspension 
arrangements, i.e. depending on relatives to complete/finance the 
arrangements [I'll bet more that a few long-time cryonicists have some 
stories there]; she quotes the president of "Eastern Cryonics" regarding 
these matters: "Nobody listens to you when you're dead." 

According to Sheskin, because of the amount of cooperation from relatives 
needed, cryonicists with extensive preparations are just as likely, or 
sometimes even less likely, to actually be suspended, as those who have 
made no arrangements whatsoever to secure cooperation from relatives. 
[Surely this is no longer the case?]

Another major issue covered: feeling of trust, or lack of, with respect 
to Eastern Cryonics. Some of the cryonicists indicated in interviews that 
they felt the organization was just a telephone number and some 
literature .
The word "precarious" was used by one interviewee.

Where to store the suspendees was a major concern for "Eastern Cryonics" 
in the early days; Apparently, for some time they were actually kept at a 
local cemetery until the cemetery kicked them out.  

[My own perspective on all this is that it seems that in that time the 
relatives were much more involved in this, whereas they don't seem to be 
now --the Cryocare signup kit and its voluminous next-of-kin documents 
notwithstanding :^)  I personally feel much more comfortable with 
relatives more or less out of the picture]

 Sheskin notes that cryonicists put great stock in the success of 
freezing and successful thawing of viable sperm and then points out that 
sperm freezing/thawing is only 50% successful and that cryonicists 
[hereinafter referred to as "cryos"] are often unaware of or undeterred 
by this fact. [I guess this shows how the cryonics paradigm has evolved 
since 1979: if you take nanotech and the self-as-information memes to 
heart this would be of much less consequence]

Chapter III: Waiting for Something to Happen

Ch 3 deals with several important ideas, one idea being that cryonics 
orgs actually go through "stages."  In looking at Eastern Cryonics, she 
came up with this:

  1. A period of excitement and activity--flurries of activity and much 
aggressive effort marked the genesis of Eastern Cryonics [EC]. EC was 
easy to get into--only a small membership fee; this resulted in a couple 
of hundred members, and many meetings were held and enthusiasm was high.
The leaders however soon cut down on meetings because of cliques 
developing and off-topic discussions. Members were not unhappy so long as 
their leaders did not embarrass them and "things appeared to be 
happening."

  2. First Freezing--This was met with great enthusuiasm. Everything was 
new and exciting; volunteerism peaked. The president of EC:" The thought 
at the time was that the world would beat a path to our door." The 
society went from a "talk"  and "fun and games" mode to an org 
responsible fro maintaining the suspendees, and dealing with the media 
and a publicity crush. Many members began to find fault with how the 
leaders did their jobs. The foundation for dissension was laid.

 Some thoughts on the difficulties:
   
 -- If someone came up with an idea, someone else wanted to disagree with 
it or modify it...The people who argued the most did the least

 -- Nobody agreed on anything, ever, and if they did agree, they'd sit 
and complain.

Members began to descibe their leaders as " a little wild-eyed", 
"weird,", or "acting like circus clowns."

Officials of EC also became critical of the members; they saw them as 
frivolous, and seeking to be entertained and serviced. The president of 
EC indicated in an interview that he had a distinct dislike for the 
politics and gamesplaying his job entailed.

These tensions were not destructive as long as suspensions continued and 
costs stayed low.


3. Dissension-- AFter suspendees were kicked out of the cemetery, 
charges of incompetence were leveled at the EC leadership. A warehouse 
location was proposed; this move brought to the surface a number of 
smoldering tensions. Questions of appearances and respectability were 
raised. 
 
Leaders raised rates without member consultation, and some members said 
they resented being notified rather than consulted. The combination of 
raised dues, fewer freezings, fewer meetings, and the fact that the 
journal was published less frequently led many to sense a general decline 
in the EC org. Members seemed to find fault everywhere.


Members began to quit and start splinter groups. Oddly, even the leaders 
of EC often encouraged these departures. The leaders were tired and 
disillusioned with the problems of their org and felt as though there was 
no longer any gain for cryonics by carrying on in the same way. The 
president and Vice-pres told Sheskin that they felt as thought the 2 of 
them were what held EC together. The president opined that a cryo org was 
different from other societies in that it was not something a lot of 
people could do together, like a model airplane club or whatever. Only a 
limited amount of people could participate.

Sheskin remarked that EC never really specified its goals, and this left 
a void when suspensions were not ocurring, hence the "waiting org" 
syndrome. After suspensions slacked off, problems filled the void.


Splinter Groups (from EC):

 Cryo Vault (Pseudonymous?)

They hoped to keep their numbers small and did not actively recruit; this 
was a family enterprise. They sought to set themselves apart from EC. 
Some comments on their differences:
--We're average people--not kooks, that's for sure.
--...going about it in a much more logical fashion
---not about to do anything crazy, like devoting your whole life to 
cryonics.

EC disdained them and felt as though the Cryovault folks were unwilling 
to work for cryonics.

Cryovault bought an old church and a cemetery and began 
construction. Things took a turn for the worse when the locals found out 
about it and began picketing the location on...Halloween [Yikes!]  A 
zoning dispute ensued; the Frankenstein specter was raised, bad juju all 
around. Needless to say, it all came to naught. 

Another splinter group was born of this fiasco: Cryonic Sciences. 
(pseudonymous?)

This org had a different plan: they would serve potential cryos by 
helping them contract with reputable cryo orgs for freezing and storage.
They sent out an annoucement to those who had been affiliated with other 
orgs which basically said that old cryo orgs do not have the initiative 
to remain viable. "Dry rot sets in,"  referring to EC.  They set 
themselves apart as a more closely knit org and said they would pursue 
cryobiological research. They wanted everyone involved to have a voice 
and accused EC of not allowing this. Misuse and unwise use of EC funds 
was an issue with the Cryonics Sciences people. The new warehouse 
location was a sore spot with them. They claimed it was an abandoned 
warehouse and not even being paid for. They prided themselves on an 
impressive public image and in " not being kooks."

Cryonics Sciences lasted only about a year; their problems according to 
Sheskin: lack of funds, unclear strategies for attainment of goals, lack 
of customers [what more could you want in the way of problems?]

Sheskin comments that Cryo Vault & Cryo Sciences lacked full-time 
committment of a small super-dedicated hardcore. Ultimately, she claims, 
they were all just "waiting orgs" without suspensions, with too much time 
to pass blame and lose interest.

Her most telling point [and the probable reason cryonics is still around, 
IMO] is that cryos were able to separate the failure of their orgs from 
the core idea of cryonics, which they still viewed as a pure  and viable 
concept. She addresses this idea further in later chapters.

But that will have to wait for part 2, as this post is pretty much played 
out.

One further note: I hope that this does not open any old wounds or 
anything like that, but as they say, "those who do not understand the 
past are doomed to repeat it".

Randy Smith


-- 
do not go gentle into that good night
rage, rage against the dying of the light

 Dylan Thomas


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