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[aurora]

I've just recently joined this forum and firstly I would just like to express my gratitude for the development of this site,which has allowed one to converse with others all around the world on such issues as the prospect of immortality,scientific advancement and cryonics.I'm from Australia and first discovered about Alcor and CI in 2002 and decided that I would like to sign up with one of these institutions,but currently I have yet to decide which one is best for me.I have read about both and have even heard of reports of Australians signing up with either one,though I know that the figure is less here than it is overseas.One thing I would like to get other thoughts on is the complications that can arise when you wish to bring up a discussion on cryonics,with others who are basically ignorant about it.How do you think its best you bring up a conversation on the issue with others,such as relatives or friends with no interest or previous knowledge in the area?Can anyone give any tips or ideas when dealing with others outside this enlightening group and website?

[bgwowk]

The single most important thing is to emphasize cryonics as a life-saving technology, not an "alternative to burial or cremation". Dying is a process that begins when your heart stops, and nanotechnology experts have claimed that future medicine will be able to reverse this process at later stage (perhaps even hours later) than medicine today. Cryonics uses that window of opportunity between when medicine today gives up, and when future medicine will be able recover people, to attempt to stop people from dying.

Death is the single biggest hangup people have about cryonics. Don't let yourself get trapped into arguments about whether death is reversible. The issue isn't whether death is revesible, it's when people really die. Although it's not yet widely accepted, the case has been made in published scientific papers that cryonics instituted rapidly after the heart stops can actually stop people from dying by the standards of future medical technology.

Here's a hard-hitting editorial that may help bring some legitimacy to your views in their eyes

http://www.techcentr...om/073002B.html

And of course there's a ton of information on the Alcor website

http://www.alcor.org

---BrianW