X-Message-Number: 9470 Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1998 23:48:39 -0400 From: Saul Kent <> Subject: Growth in Cryonics Ralph Merkle (Msg #9454) notes that for years the annual growth rate of Alcor was "almost 30%", and wonders why this is no longer true. As someone who played an active role in Alcor for much of that period, I know one of the reasons. Many of the people active in Alcor during this period are no longer active in Alcor, for one reason or another, including but not restricted to: Mike Darwin, Jerry Leaf, Brian Wowk, Brenda Peters and myself. At the time, these people generally became involved in multiple areas such as research, cryonics services, promotion and administration. One price that was paid by people trying to be "jacks of all trades" was that they were unable to do any one of them as well as they could have. Today, several of these people are focusing all or most of their attention on research in an attempt to do the best job they can in this area. They are now able to do this, in part, because enough funding is now available to do research well on a full-time basis. I believe this focus on research will pay off in a big way for cryonics growth in the long-term, even if growth continues to suffer in the short-term. I believe this will be the case because the researchers are addressing the single most important brake on growth: the poor quality of the product we are offering. I am confident that the key to long-term growth in cryonics is better cryopreservation methods, which will improve the credibility of cryonics in the eyes of scientists, physicians, the media and the general public. I am sometimes surprised by the resistance of some people in the cryonics community to this conclusion, which seems to me to be supported by considerable evidence. The overwhelming majority of people believe that today we offer a poor product. Many of them believe it is worthless. Even in the very tiny cryonics community, a significant percentage of the most active people also believe that the product we offer today is a poor one. It is, therefore, very clear to me that improving the product we offer by clearly verifiable, scientific means, and publishing this evidence in peer-reviewed medical and science journals will play a major role in improving the growth rate of cryonics. It will improve our chances of survival in two ways: by lessening the burden on future medicine to restore us to life, health and youth, and by convincing more people to opt for cryonics as an opportunity for a longer, healthier lifespan. Anyone who agrees with this line of reasoning, and who can afford to do so, should invest as much of their money as they can in research to improve cryopreservation methods. ---Saul Kent, CEO 21st Century Medicine Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9470