X-Message-Number: 19102 Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 11:11:04 -0400 (EDT) From: Charles Platt <> Subject: SF writers Damien Broderick raises the interesting possibility of trying to sell cryonics to SF writers Niven/Pournelle. All I can say is that while I was going through the extremely depressing Timothy Leary standby, coincidentally the annual Nebula Awards were held on the LA area. I attended the evening social event for some light relief, and talked to Jerry Pournelle while I was there. When I explained the real reason why I was on the West Coast, Jerry turned and shouted to the people nearby, "CHARLES PLATT HAS COME TO CALIFORNIA TO FREEZE TIMOTHY LEARY'S HEAD!" Jerry thought this was a hugely amusing, ludicrous concept, and came back to the theme several times during the evening. If he had any willingness to take the idea seriously and/or apply it to himself, he kept it well hidden. Gregory Benford is closer (politically, geographically, and personally) to Jerry Pournelle than I ever was. I feel sure he must have brought up the subject of cryonics at some point, and Jerry must know of the pseudonymous Benford novel on the subject. Also I feel sure that Niven and Pournelle would have looked at Greg Bear's lovely little novel, HEADS. In fact, I would bet that any serious old-school science-fiction writer is well informed about cryonics, at this point. My own articles on the subject have appeared in Omni magazine (four times), Fantasy and Science Fiction, Science Fiction Eye, Science Fiction Guide, and Interzone. As always, there is no shortage of information on the topic; just a shortage of people who apply it to themselves. For more than two decades, I myself thought of cryonics as something that "other people did." This remains one of the two or three basic problems in promoting it. Many people will say, "Yes, I guess it might work," but as soon as you suggest they should sign up themselves, you get the instant-dismissal reaction: "Me? Oh, not ME." Very few people can break through the "Oh, not ME!" reaction. I've seen Mike Darwin doing it by terrifying people, and Brenda Peters do it by charming people. Both techniques used emotion to force the acceptance of a basically logical argument. Maybe that's what it takes; I don't know. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=19102