X-Message-Number: 23047
From: 
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2003 19:47:44 EST
Subject: Re: Pratt on Funding

Mr. Pratt writes:

> Bob Ettinger tried to find support for The Prospect of
> Immortality by doing a mailing to names chosen from Who's Who
> in America. This was--what, fifty years ago? The response was
> not encouraging. Of course this could be tried again, and
> it's a task that one person could certainly tackle on his
> own. Maybe Mr. Mole should go for it.
> 
> 
Maybe I have, to some extent, but my posting was neither to talk about what I 
had done nor to tell others what to do. It was a *suggestion* and not, as Mr. 
Pratt seems to think, an order. 

I did write Larry Ellison (billionaire head or Oracle Software) a few years 
ago but got no response, and I discussed it with my neighbor as I said. I am 
thinking of expanding the effort and may contact the Rotary Club soon, and am 
trying to recall some other rich people I know.

Having tried both mailings and personal contacts for some other projects, I 
find in-person contacts often work (maybe half the time for some projects) 

while mailings of thirty or two hundred pieces produce zero results. The failure
of a mail campaign does not mean a direct approach will not work.

>All of this information--and many other accounts of
initiatives that didn't work--are available online for anyone
willing to go looking. Of course this requires a little bit
more initiative than making CryoNet posts that tell other
people what they should do, because it's all so obvious.

The word "obvious" does not appear in my post. I said it was "astounding" 

that some rich people who face death had not tried to avoid it by using a small
fraction of their wealth to make cryonics work.  I did not say it was obvious 
that we should do what I suggested, nor did I tell anybody what to do.

I find Mr. Pratt's examples of initiatives that didn't work to be tedious 
irrelevant. Somebody applied as a cemetery society and was turned down by a 

government board?  What has that to do with speaking to a Rotary Club?? If he 
knows 
where all this history is posted, why didn't he come up with something 

pertinent? Is there a history of failed attempts to give speeches to 
organizations 

with rich members? Is there a history of reasonable people trying to interest a
variety of rich people and failing?

Granted, Mr. Pratt writes relevantly:

>I was at an alternate-energy conference several years ago
where a lot of highly speculatives proposals were discussed,
i.e. wacky ideas that almost certainly wouldn't work. I spoke
to a man who was coordinating investment in research, using
funds from a consortium of investors that he had set up. When
I described the need for investing in cryonics-related
research, he was dismissive. "It's much too far fetched," he
said. "I could never raise any capital for that."

But this was one person. My point is that there are (literally) seven million 
millionaires in the US and we need just one. Of course anyone who tries this 
should expect to fail in most instances; perhaps in all. But that doesn't mean 
it is not worth trying.

Finally, I started my suggestion with "I'd like to suggest three things....we 
should... etc."  And ended with "What do you think?" I believe that made it 

clear that I was throwing out a suggestion for discussion, not giving an order.
But if anyone besides Mr. Pratt thought I was telling others they should do 
things, I am sorry.  I did not mean it that way at all.

Now, what do others think of the idea? Perhaps Rudi Hoffman can tell us if 
this kind of "selling" could work. Rudi, could it fly?

Alan Mole


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