X-Message-Number: 4380
From: 
Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 15:59:00 -0400
Subject: recruitment targets

Over the years, a great deal of speculation among cryonicists and
immortalists has centered on target groups and individuals--how to identify
good prospects. The sum total has been only slightly useful

We know, for example, that Californians are relatively good prospects and
residents of the southeast (except Florida) relatively poor ones. Computer
people and LIbertarians are relatively good prospects, fervently pious people
relatively poor ones. The very young, the very poor, and the very old are
sub-par (although the relatives of the very old may not be). 

But none of this helps us a whole lot. In every category, the positive
response so far has been a very small fraction. It doesn't  pay, for example,
to advertise in computer magazines, because even though the proportionate
response might be better than in another venue, the total is still far too
small to justify the expense. So we just take our free advertising where we
can find it, and do the best we can. 

Individuals? I was asked recently by some students what there was in my own
background to explain why I, rather than someone else, started the cryonics
movement. Beats me. As far as I know, my background and psychology or
mind-sets are far from unique.  I suppose it's a good deal like the
weather--the outcome is very sensitive to initial and boundary conditions, or
just plain luck. 

And a recent incident, to my mind, puts the capper on it--makes it clearly
close to hopeless to attempt to categorize individuals as prospects.

A Christian fundamentalist told me by e-mail that he wanted to sign up for
cryonics, but was encountering a lot of opposition from his wife, and
expected his co-parishioners to give him a hard time also.  His background
was somewhat unusual, but in confusing ways. Again, I suspect, the pivots are
just too delicate to admit of any easy or useful analysis.

Conclusion? Forget the targets, and continue the scattergun approach. (An
exception might be your own relatives and friends, with whom you might have
more influence or more opportunity.)

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society


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