X-Message-Number: 9560
From:  (Randy Smith)
Subject: Dissolve all Cryo Orgs? (was Re: Failure of the Cryonics Movement)
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 14:30:21 GMT
References: <>

The problem, so far as cryonicists funding  research goes,  is that
cryonics and the promise of nanotech provides such a great security
blanket for those of us who cannot find a security blanket in
religion.

What would be ideal for research purposes is if all the current cryo
orgs *dissolved* for all intents and purposes, terminating all
memberships, and existed only to  provide whatever would be needed to
keep current patients frozen. Which might be considerable, since LN is
not the only thing needed by far (the storage building, and associated
costs, etc.). In order to fund that, you would probably need the money
coming in from dues, which once again, provides the security blanket
which keeps cryonicists from funding research. Catch-22.

You could pull that off if all the cryo orgs pooled funds to provide
one building for maintaining current patients, and embarked upon a
Manhattan-project style research project.

Yeah, that'll be the day.

Even if you could get 500 of the current 800 or so cryonicists to
apply their dues to research, I wonder how that could work out. You
wouldn't want them to cancel their insurance, since, when and if
suspension techniques were perfected, those cryonicists might not be
able to re-insure and take advantage of the research they helped fund.

Suppose 500 of the 800 did apply dues money to research: $350/year
times 500 is only 175,000/yr. Is that significant research money?
Suppose you doubled that to $350,000/yr. You might be able to do
something with that. But do you have 500 hardcore cryonicists who
would provide double their dues money to do research?

Of course, if you did take away that security blanket, you then
*might* have a better chance of getting some big money from wealthy
cryos. But you would need all the cryo orgs to dissolve; If only one
or two dissolved, the security blanket is still available from the
other orgs.

Randy
Cryonics: Gateway to the Future?
http://www.mindspring.com/~cryon/
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