2 replies to this topic

[Shannon Vyff]

I wish that we could get updates when people ask questions like this:

http://au.answers.ya...18154810AAIof4W

I actually accidently ran across that this evening when I was searching for something else, and was happy to see at least one reasonable answer before I 'got there'.

Anyone have any ideas about how we could find things like this?

I understand that many more cryonicists have signed up after the Internet due to people searching out information on their own. I did about 35 radio interviews in the early part of 07, but seemed to get the same questions over and over. I only do T.V. interviews when they come my way via Alcor, since I don't have the funds to put into top notch PR. I wish we had some big 'media worthy' event unlike the Beagle which was not really frozen, and was piggybacking on other people's research who'd had mammals suspended in the same way for hours instead of twenty minutes--but some mammal actually frozen--or a brain showing normal looking electrical activity after being 'frozen'. I'd like there to be the media interest, but to show that actual families, and normal people sign up for cryonics from pure common sense and that it can be done in a inexpensive and socially conscious way.

[Shannon Vyff]

I went to a birthday party for the 10 year old friend of my son, recently. The mother I've known for a year, teaches my daughter's dance class. She homeschools, and her neighbor was at the party (also a homeschooler). The first mother homeschools because she travels a lot for her dancing work, and she likes to keep things within her Catholic religion. The second mother homeschools because her youngest who a neuroscientist diagnosed with a brain problem was not getting specialized teaching in our public school system, and she likes to keep things bible based (her son likes the science book). My point is, since this was on a Tuesday night, it was a small party since the kids there were homeschooled--my son was the only non homeschooled kid. These are people I'd 'expect' to be viscerally upset with me being a cryonicist. First I talked of my church, then mentioned it was a Unitarian Universalist church, then much later (after over an hour of us chatting about our lives, our exes, our kids) when I mentioned I wrote--I explained a bit about the futurist issues, and the science we see as possible now, why I like to teach kids --etc. Yes cryonics was slipped in, and my point is that the people thought it seemed interesting, and they smiled and nodded--nothing like the responses that were on-line in that thread. I think people are a lot nicer 'in person', but also when they are evaluating if that person has things in common with themselves if they are 'us' or 'them' / 'normal' or 'weird'. Now in a small one and one situation, I was honestly a lot more careful (in amount of time passed, acknowledgments of agreement on issues, and backstories traded) before I'd mentioned cryonics than I would in an interview. I'm just not that worried about speaking in interviews to a vast amount of people, because I think my reputation stands on its own, and I know people will have their own opinions. I still see and talk to those moms, we still set up playdates, I'm taking the now 10 year old with me roller skating today (I take my kids most Fridays and we bring friends often from their school or neighborhood, sometimes we meet church friends there who come from other parts of town). So, the mother is not 'too concerned about me behind my back' to keep her son from spending an afternoon with our family--and she is quite a caring and concerned homeschooling, religious mother. I know everyone will have their own views about cryonics, but I do like sharing it--since it is so unknown. (neither of those moms knew what it was) It can be seen in that thread that many simply didn't know much about it--that is why I wish we could have a media worthy event, just to get positive exposure (vs. the Williams kind).

[forever freedom]

I wish that we could get updates when people ask questions like this:

http://au.answers.ya...18154810AAIof4W

Most answers in this link are very irritating (not yours, shannon ). But they show very clearly what's the common popular mindset concerning extreme life extension. That's very bad, and i don't think it's going to change so soon. Religion and spirituality play a big role in shaping and spreading these kinds of deathist memes that were displayed in people's answers in the link. But i fear that as far as most humans are in need for some greater force to protects them and be responsible for their problems, the damn religion is not going away. Ironically and unfortunately, the mere existence of religion is going to delay the creation of technologies that could give us freedom from these overwhelming feelings of insignificancy that many of us have that make us have to grip into beliefs of something or some power "bigger than ourselves".

Edited by sam988, 23 February 2008 - 05:51 AM.