X-Message-Number: 21154 Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2003 23:17:40 -0800 (PST) From: Driven FromThePack <> Subject: michael jackson, con't Kennita wrotw: >> Different than most in Michael's case. He specifically said "I don't [plan to] be buried. I want to live forever.". I wonder what kind of living forever he wants to do that won't involve being buried (or, given context, burned, sunk at sea, etc.). Maybe he plans to be taken away by aliens, but who's to say his slender frame isn't due to caloric restriction? I'd sure like to be able to ask him more about it. >> Yes, an intriguing statement, and an intriguing delivery as well. He appears to make that statement in a sincere manner and without artifice or much forethought. I think he has given a lot of thought to the idea. HIs ideas about it are already formed. But how many people, when asked about being buried in a particular way, come up with an answer like that, completely without irony? Virtually none! Teh evolution of Jackson's approach to immortalism was probably lihe most of us, here (excepting such pioneers, such as Ettinger): My own immortalist leanings and feelings, 10 years ago, were inchoate, nebulous, unformed, etc. Then I started reading cryonicist, extropian, transhumanist --immortalist--writings on the Net. And those writings helped give shape to my own thoughts about the general idea. Only then was I able to say, without irony, that I "want to live forever." I think that Michael Jackson's thoughts about immortalism were almost certainly formed with the help of our own writings on the Net. I think he almost certainly has read many of our own cryonet postings. You just don't come out and say to someone that you want to live forever, without irony. We, here on cryonet, and similar forums (extropians list, etc.) are really the only people in the world making unironic statements like that, with very very few exceptions, such as Woody Allen, and his immortalist statements have been part of his humor. Also, of course, pioneers like Ettinger and Evan Cooper no doubt do not fit in with the rest of us. They had to come up with the idea on their own. So, Micheal Jackson has been here on this list, almost certainly. And he may be here now, and he may be reading my post just as you are. Didn't I also hear on that documentary that he liked to surf the Net? I can only hope that in the aftermath of the scandal surrounding him now, that he is asked by the media to elaborate on his statement, and that our cause can be helped by the publicity. --randy __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21154