X-Message-Number: 9666 Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 13:09:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Charles Platt <> Subject: Ineffective Incentives To those who believe (as I used to) that more people will opt for cryonics if we give them an incentive, the case of James Baglivo provides salutary reorientation. The following amazing details are quoted with permission of Brian Shock, at Alcor. (Thanks, Brian.) James Baglivo won the Omni Immortality Contest. (I realize I keep coming back to that damned contest, but there's a reason for this: it's the only really large-scale PR initiative, following tried-and-true promotional techniques, that has ever been attempted in the history of cryonics. It remains the best available test of cryo-promotion.) Baglivo went to the trouble of writing a short essay describing his desire to be frozen after death. This alone placed him in a tiny minority of Omni readers. Plus, he had a motive: injuries from a car accident had left him in constant pain. He wanted to reawaken in a future where this could be alleviated. So, we can assume he did have a genuine interest in the _idea_ of cryonics. Alcor sent him the necessary signup documents. A couple _years_ later, when Brian Shock arrived at Alcor in August, 1995, he was surprised to find that Baglivo hadn't completed the documents, even though he was being offered a TOTALLY FREE membership and eventual cryopreservation! Moreover, Brian found that Baglivo had moved without notifying Alcor. Through directory assistance, Brian located Baglivo and sent him a new set of documents. During the next six months, Brian had to send two more sets of documents before Baglivo finally returned one set properly completed. Next came the little problem of insurance. This, too, was ABSOLUTELY FREE (courtesy of Alcor) but Baglivo showed little interest in answering any of the necessary questions till Brian finally threatened to withdraw the prize. After many hours of work, the signup was completed. Since Baglivo didn't have to pay annual membership fees in Alcor, you'd think he would remain cheerfully signed up, especially bearing in mind the REALLY convincing essay he had written (which I chose as the winner out of almost 400). But, about a year later Baglivo moved without leaving Alcor a forwarding address, and no one has heard from him since. Now, of course, this is only one case. I tend to think, however, that there's an inverse corollary to the old adage, "you get what you pay for." The inverse would be, "if you don't pay, you don't value it very much." Currently, of course, most people don't ascribe any value to cryonics whether they have to pay for it or not--which renders any idea of a discount somewhat questionable. I believe it will take a long time (several decades) for this attitude to change, and special incentive schemes won't do much to hasten the process. In the meantime, even people who like the _idea_ of cryonics may get impatient or lose interest when they are confronted with the _reality_ of cryonics (all those documents and questions and details). Of course, I would like to be proven wrong. The only way of accomplishing this, though, would be by risking a large sum on a PR scheme--which might be better spent in areas where we have already proved that there is a reliable, high rate of return on money spent. I'm referring, of course, to research and development of better cryopreservation techniques. Charles Platt CryoCare Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9666