X-Message-Number: 66 From att!uunet!tellab5!mcvax!freja.diku.dk!stodol Wed Mar 1 22:53:08 1989 Received: by att.ATT.COM (smail2.6 - att-ih) id AA19138; 1 Mar 89 22:53:08 CST (Wed) Received: by tellab5.UUCP (5.51/4.7) id AA02057; Wed, 1 Mar 89 19:43:05 CST Received: from mcvax.UUCP by uunet.UU.NET (5.61/1.14) with UUCP id AA28028; Tue, 28 Feb 89 22:10:09 -0500 Received: by mcvax.cwi.nl via EUnet; Wed, 1 Mar 89 04:06:44 +0100 (MET) Received: from freja.diku.dk by dkuug.dk with SMTP (5.61++/IDA-1.2.8) id AA09469; Tue, 28 Feb 89 20:03:02 +0100 Received: by freja.diku.dk (5.61++/IDA-1.2.8) id AA04548; Tue, 28 Feb 89 19:57:35 +0100 Date: Tue, 28 Feb 89 19:57:35 +0100 From: David Stodolsky <uunet!tellab5!mcvax!diku.dk!stodol> Message-Id: <> To: dkuug!ho4cad!kqb Subject: CRYONICS Status: RO CRYONICS -------------- I have caught up with the Cryonics Mailing List by reading items 1 thru 53, and I'm glad to see cryonics is now on-line. However, in other ways things do not seemed to have changed that much since my earlier involvement with the movement. In 1977 I had a letter published in what was then called _Long Live Magazine_ on the topic "Politics of life extension" (the exact dates and details are in stored files). It was answered by Thomas K. Donaldson, who stated he was not interested in changing society, but only in his personal survival (apologies for the paraphrase). Now I read that ALCOR personnel have been dragged off in handcuffs, computers were confiscated, the case is being handed over to a grand jury for possible murder indictment, the FBI refuses to investigate the theft of e-mail, the State of Cal. refuses to issue permits for receipt of human remains, etc. So the Life Extension Movement has finally been forced to face the question of politics. As has been stated earlier, Cryonics operates in a grey area of the law. There are two ways in which laws are made (clearer). First, by legislation being passed, an obviously political process, second by legal actions that create precedents. This usually require someone to tried for a "crime", and is also quite political when there is a real precedent being set. Failure to take the first route, leads most often to the second. Since, in the first case the protagonist defines the issues has plenty of time to organize, is not faced with jail, big legal expenses, loss of credibility, etc. it would seem preferable. The second case gives the opposition the advantages of surprise, agenda setting,.state power and resources, etc. Beyond the questions of forming the law, is the question of administration. While not directly stated, it has been intimated that because the coroner is an elected official (most often not specially trained), incompetence is common and therefore political selection is not desirable. Must earlier mistakes be repeated? So far the ALCOR case has cost over $100,000 and there is no end in sight. This in a case where the coroner's department is so obviously incompetent that the newspapers treat it as a source of material for humorous articles. What situation would ALCOR be in if someone competent (and hostile) had the position? Would it have cost $100,000 for one of the very competent people sympathetic to cryonics to win an election against the apparently incompetent and corrupt current office holder? Did anybody even contest this coroner's election? If not I think the Life Extension Movement has learned a lesson the hard way. Consider the political problems likely to develop when cryonics is taken seriously enough to be seen as a threat to the status quo. Is the Life Extension Movement going to be ready to challenge the Church and the State when the time comes? If this is to be done (or avoided) successfully, the Life Extension Movement will need to have some strong social structures well in place. There are apparently 16 people in suspension at this time and this is after maybe 40 suspensions have taken place. The culprit has been inadequate "arrangements". This means a failure of the organizations or the other social-political-economic conditions surrounding these suspensions. While the discussion of long lasting organizations is one topic for this list, I have seen nothing of a scientific nature. The physical procedures for suspension are being developed rapidly, but this is not where the most important problem lies if we look at the history of Cryonics. [Has anybody (else) considered suspension systems that could take care of themselves for 50 or 100 years? This would be a technical advance likely to be of REAL value, because it compensates for a current social weaknesses. Maybe we could learn something from ancient Egyptians. They didn't understand physiology, but they built massive social and physical structures using BOTH to protect their "patients".] A recent study of the rise to power of the Social Democrats in Sweden (they have formed the government there for something like 57 of the last 60 years) found that a strong organization was the key to achieving political power. I have been studying how an organization can be strengthened using computer-based cryptographic protocols for communication, voting, etc. I have argued that this type of structuring is most valuable where power is based on organizational credibility (I will post a summary of a conference paper separately). This seems applicable to the problems of the Life Extension Movement these days, and for some time to come, I would guess. What I propose is that research be initiated using a list like this as a base for constructing a "journal". This journal could be elaborated into a mechanism that fulfils the information distribution function for an organization. The software developed could be used by Life Extension Movement organizations both to to enhance their own credibility and protect themselves from penetrations by hostile agents. Some comment in this direction have appeared on the mailing list. "[Christopher Fry] mentioned that if he (personally) had a billion dollars to spend, he would spend it on information access . . . (CML35)" What is needed is about three years of support for a couple of people to put this in motion. A lot of the software needed is closely related to current products in commercial development. If we can influence or contract with some of the companies currently active in cryptography, to include certain features at an early stage, we can get a good return for invested capital. How can one apply for funding that is apparently available for research supporting Cryonics? Recent events have shown that the Life Extension Movement can not depend upon a government to protect its data, its credibility, or its people. If we want these protections, we must build them into the organizations and their information systems. Let's not wait for next round of lawsuits which could well drive Cryonics organizations out of existence. I really don't want to have to say, "I told you so," in another 12 years. David Stodolsky diku.dk! Department of Psychology Voice + 45 1 58 48 86 Copenhagen Univ., Njalsg. 88 Fax. + 45 1 54 32 11 DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=66