X-Message-Number: 9720
Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 10:23:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: Uncaring about Death?

On Sat, 16 May 1998, CryoNet wrote:

> From: Transoniq Hacker <>
> 
> One factor that doesn't seem to be discussed much here, probably won't
> show up in surveys, and CERTAINLY won't be discovered by cryonicist's
> introspection, is that most folks just really don't give a rat's ass
> whether they live or die. 

Actually I have raised this issue twice during the past few weeks, but my 
perspective differs from yours.

Certainly it's true that many people claim to be unconcerned about death.
I believe however that this habit was more entrenched in the past than it
is now. 

If you had proposed, say, seat belts for automobiles fifty years ago, the
reaction then would have been similar to the reaction many people express
toward cryonics today: "Unnecessary ... expensive ... may not work ... 
... I'm not afraid to die when it's my turn to die." 

Today, most people wear seat belts. What happened?

While it is true, as you say, that many people still enjoy life-habits
that increase the risk of death, it's also true that many others have
CHANGED their life habits. Fewer people smoke. Hard-liquor consumption has
fallen. Diet sodas have partially displaced regular sodas. Regulations
have made the workplace safer. Mortality from all forms of accidents has
steadily fallen. There has been an increasing interest in dietary
supplements and physical fitness. And so on. 

I believe this shift in attitude will continue, and eventually more people
will be disposed to consider cryonics--AFTER it has gone through the
initial phase (which we are still in) of being an experimental procedure
with an uncertain outcome depending entirely on the goodwill and technical
ability of strangers in an unknown future. 

--Charles Platt

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