X-Message-Number: 9632 Date: Wed, 06 May 1998 12:23:58 +0200 From: "D. den Otter" <> Subject: A contest to stimulate research > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message #9628 > Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 01:53:08 -0400 (EDT) > From: Charles Platt <> >> James Halperin suggests free storage of DNA or brains as a promotional incentive. In Omni magazine, Alcor offered a complete signup-and-suspension, free of charge (via the Omni Immortality Contest). All you had to do was write a single page explaining why you wanted to win the prize. News of the contest reached several million people in addition to the core readership of Omni (about 500,000 at that time, I believe). The contest was featured on the front page, and five interior pages discussed the merits of cryonics. This massive publicity attracted fewer than 400 essays. I conclude that "freebies" do not sell cryonics--at least, not very successfully. I assume that this is because cryonics is still a fledgling technology. As such, it has not acquired monetary value in people's minds. Consequently a discount may not mean very much.<< ------ So people don't care about cryonics, but I'm quite sure they care about *$$$$$*. That's why a contest of a different kind (as described in an earlier post) might be a good idea: offer a substantial award to anyone who can come up with a considerable improvement to the field of cryonics ( like achieving reliable vitrification, designing better field gear, a revolutionary dewar etc.). The details can be worked out according to the personal preferences of those involved, but the main point here is that you lose nothing if no (good) inventions are forthcoming (the contestants must fund themselves), while you might possibly gain *everything* if the contest is a success. The winner gets money and possibly scientific acclaim, while the cryonics community gets better service -- everybody wins. This isn't meant to replace the organ-donor scheme or any other idea btw, but more like something that might be tried while the debate over how possible funds should be allocated etc. goes on (this could take a while, I reckon ;-) --DdO Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9632