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Cryonics Myths

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1–10 of 57 posts

Re: Cryonics Myths

#2
Being an avid cryonicist, I have attempted to express these myths to a wide variety of people. The very few and open-minded folks that will move past utter dismissal usually have a deep and visceral illogical fear of death - or a deep and visceral religious belief in the afterlife. These "Cryonics Myths Debunked" tend to only further convince those who are likely to choose Cryonics anyways.

There must be a better way to convince the masses, but so far no billionaire or government has stepped forward with a serious effort here, and I doubt such a thing will occur in our lifetimes.

My point is, other avid cryonicists should study serious and effective approaches, and abandon the "rational" one. But hey, making it up high on the hacker-news top-10 is a good start.

Re: Cryonics Myths

#3
Come on give me a break. This pseudoscience nonsense is making a comeback?

None of us want to die but giving these scammers your money won’t save you.

Re: Cryonics Myths

#4
post #3

Come on give me a break. This pseudoscience nonsense is making a comeback? None of us want to die but giving these scammers your money won’t save you.

"DH0. Name-calling.

This is the lowest form of disagreement, and probably also the most common. We've all seen comments like this:

u r a fag!!!!!!!!!!

But it's important to realize that more articulate name-calling has just as little weight. A comment like

The author is a self-important dilettante.

is really nothing more than a pretentious version of "u r a fag."

http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html

Re: Cryonics Myths

#6
post #4
post #3

Come on give me a break. This pseudoscience nonsense is making a comeback? None of us want to die but giving these scammers your money won’t save you.

"DH0. Name-calling. This is the lowest form of disagreement, and probably also the most common. We've all seen comments like this: u r a fag!!!!!!!!!! But it's important to realize that more articulate name-calling has just as little weight. A comment like The author is a self-important dilettante. is really nothing more than a pretentious version of "u r a fag." http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html

It’s not name calling. It’s calling it what it is. They promise extended life which they cannot deliver at all. They are just like an astrologist or psychic surgeon.

Re: Cryonics Myths

#7
Cryonics Myth #1: "Trustees 200 years in future at a time when your disease [X] is completely curable will care to bring you back."

There's no corporate or legal or NGO structure in the business that will last long enough that anyone will care, and even if they do the cooling system failover will not work in the particularly hot summer of 2074.

Re: Cryonics Myths

#8
post #7

Cryonics Myth #1: "Trustees 200 years in future at a time when your disease [X] is completely curable will care to bring you back." There's no corporate or legal or NGO structure in the business that will last long enough that anyone will care, and even if they do the cooling system failover will not work in the particularly hot summer of 2074.

And while we're at it, somebody needs to do the cryonics re-make of the not-so-classic 1960's movie "The Loved One":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-edybFkBiO4 -- Rod Steiger as Mr. Joyboy, the masterful mortician at work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoZ5dTQa_2E -- Liberace as a funeral home salesperson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaGtDJo5R5o -- Aimee Thanatogenos visits Mr. Joyboy and his mother

Re: Cryonics Myths

#9
post #6
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"DH0. Name-calling. This is the lowest form of disagreement, and probably also the most common. We've all seen comments like this: u r a fag!!!!!!!!!! But it's important to realize that more articulate name-calling has just as little weight. A comment like The author is a self-important dilettante. is really nothing more than a pretentious version of "u r a fag." http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html

It’s not name calling. It’s calling it what it is. They promise extended life which they cannot deliver at all. They are just like an astrologist or psychic surgeon.

Then why not write a meaningful reply? Why not say "I think cryonics will not work because... , , ", instead of throwing generic insults at people?

Re: Cryonics Myths

#10
post #6
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"DH0. Name-calling. This is the lowest form of disagreement, and probably also the most common. We've all seen comments like this: u r a fag!!!!!!!!!! But it's important to realize that more articulate name-calling has just as little weight. A comment like The author is a self-important dilettante. is really nothing more than a pretentious version of "u r a fag." http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html

It’s not name calling. It’s calling it what it is. They promise extended life which they cannot deliver at all. They are just like an astrologist or psychic surgeon.

There is progress being made on the _scientific_ effort to cryopreserve organic materials (ex: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001122401...). The argument is not that you will live forever, it's that what we consider "dead" today may not be the same as what's considered dead a hundred years from now. A hundred years ago if you had a heart attack and went unconscious, you were considered dead. We know now that there's a lot of things that can be done to revive someone who has just collapsed from a heart attack, but the awareness wasn't there yet.

I'm not interested in cryopreservation personally, but it's quite a stretch to lump the efforts in that space along with astrology or psychic healing.

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