4th quarter 2011 • Volume 32:4

Cryopreservation Funding and Inflation Page 9

Robert Ettinger on Substrate- Independent Minds Page 22 Member Profile: Gregory Benford Page 27

ISSN 1054-4305 Robert Ettinger [1918 - 2011 - ...]

$9.95 Improve Your Odds of a Good

You have your funding and contracts in place but have you considered other steps you can take to prevent problems down the road?

__ Keep Alcor up-to-date about personal and medical changes. __ Update your Alcor paperwork to reflect your current wishes. __ Execute a cryonics-friendly Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. __ Wear your bracelet and talk to your friends and family about your desire to be cryopreserved. __ Ask your relatives to sign Affidavits stating that they will not interfere with your cryopreservation. __ Attend local cryonics meetings or start a local group yourself.

__ Contribute to Alcor’s operations and research.

Contact Alcor (1-877-462-5267) and let us know how we can assist you.

Take a look at the Your source for news about: ALCOR BLOG • Cryonics technology • Cryopreservation cases • Television programs about cryonics http://www.alcor.org/blog/ • Speaking events and meetings • Employment opportunities

Alcor Life Connect with Alcor members and supporters on our Extension official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/alcor.life.extension. Foundation foundation

is on Become a fan and encourage interested friends, family members, and colleagues to support us too. 2nd quarter 2008 • Volume 29:2 CONTENTS 6 CEO Update Alcor CEO writes about Alcor’s strategic objectives, relocation assistance for terminal members, and the importance of providing sufficient funding for your cryopreservation COVER STORY: PAGE 16 arrangements. Robert Ettinger [1918-2011-...] Robert Ettinger was cryopreserved 8 Membership Statistics on July 23, 2011. Cryonicists Mike The latest statistics on Alcor Perry, Mark Plus and membership growth. contributed articles on Robert Ettinger and 25 Readiness Update his influence on contemporary Aaron Drake reports that cryonics, followed by an older Alcor has completed the article by Ettinger himself on the process to obtain “Known cost of revival and rehabilitation of cryonics patients. Shipper” status with the Cover Photo: Transportation Security Robert Ettinger, Soldier in WWII Administration, presents new readiness developments at Alcor, and shows new 9 Cryopreservation Funding and Inflation cell phone options for Alcor management and the Board of Directors have members to alert Alcor in produced a detailed document that outlines the long- emergencies. term problem of cryopreservation underfunding to discuss solutions with Alcor membership. We welcome feedback 27 Member Profile: from our members on this important topic. Gregory Benford Chana de Wolf features 22 Robert Ettinger on Substrate-Independent Minds long-time Alcor member The “father of cryonics” is often considered one of the Gregory Benford, who inspirations of contemporary , too. Many is not just a top-notch people do not know, however, that Ettinger became scientist and science fiction increasingly critical of the concept of ‘mind uploading’ in his writer, but is involved in late years. This document collects some of his most recent a number of exciting life thoughts on this topic. extension initiatives as well.

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 3 Member Communications Director

A new position called the Member Communications Director (MCD) has opened at Alcor.

The Member Communications Director’s job will be to communicate with Alcor’s members by email, by telephone, and in person for multiple purposes, among which are: 1. To find out more about the member, including such information as the member’s health condition, occupation, work background, interests, family, and aspirations; 2. To determine whether the member wishes to engage in volunteer activities on behalf of Alcor and, if the member wishes to do so, to provide the member with a variety of ways in which the member can volunteer. 3. To answer the member’s questions about Alcor. 4. To determine whether the member has left assets to be distributed to Alcor after death via a will, trust, or other document. If the member has done so, the MCD will offer to evaluate, in cooperation with attorneys of Alcor’s choosing, whether the legal documents in which the bequest has been made have been executed in a manner that will do the job effectively and, if not, to help correct them; 5. To determine the member’s general degree of wealth and whether the member has any interest in donating money (or other assets) or in leaving a bequest to Alcor. If the member is interested in making a donation, the MCD will provide the member will a variety of projects that need funding via tax-exempt donations. If the member is interested in making a bequest, the MCD will offer, in cooperation with attorneys of Alcor’s choosing, to help the member in executing a will, trust, or other legal document to accomplish the bequest with attorneys of Alcor’s choosing if it is appropriate to do so.

Qualifications: The MCD should be an Alcor member who is (or becomes) knowledgeable about Alcor and issues in cryonics, is articulate in talking to members, and is sensitive enough to know when to push forward when members make it clear that they want to help Alcor or want help from Alcor. The MCD should also be able, in cooperation with others of Alcor’s choosing, to prepare written information to help answer questions asked by members.

Compensation: The salary for the MCD is $60K plus benefits per year. This salary plus relocation expenses has been guaranteed for one year by the Foundation (LEF). After one year, the Member Communication Director’s continued employment at Alcor will be dependent upon his or her job performance.

Applications for the Member Communications Director should be (a) mailed to D’Bora Tarrant at Alcor Life Extension Foundation, 7895 Acoma Drive, Suite 110, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 or (b) be sent by email to D’Bora Tarrant at: D’[email protected].

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4 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org FROM THE EDITOR

4th quarter 2011 • Volume 32:4

Editorial Board n July 23rd, President Ben Best planned to visited our lab Ad- vanced Neural Biosciences, Inc. while he was visiting Oregon to attend the annual Ralph Merkle, Ph.D. OSociety For Cryobiology meeting. But just after the plane landed, Ben called to inform me , Ph.D. that he would not be able to come to the lab because he had to return to immediately because a patient had gone down. Upon further reflection he decided to visit our lab after all Editor because he determined that by the time he would be back in Michigan cryoprotective perfu- Aschwin de Wolf sion would have been completed and the patient would be cooling down to liquid nitrogen temperature. Upon arrival at our lab he disclosed that the patient in question was no less than Art Director the “father of cryonics,” Robert Ettinger. Not all pioneers in cryonics who have legally died Jill Grasse have been cryopreserved so this news filled me with a combination of sadness and relief. I was particularly relieved when I heard that Ettinger received prompt cardiopulmonary support and Contributing Writers cooling on the way to the funeral place for cryoprotective perfusion. Aschwin de Wolf I didn’t know Robert Ettinger very well, although he was kind enough to let me stay at Chana de Wolf his place once during a visit to the Cryonics Institute. He also made generous donations to the Aaron Drake neural cryobiology research that Chana de Wolf and I have been involved in since 2008. Oddly Robert Ettinger enough, this year our paths crossed multiple times when we found ourselves on the same wave- Charles Platt length about the topic of ‘mind uploading.’ As people who follow online cryonics forums and mailing lists know, Ettinger spent a considerable amount of time debating advocates of mind Mark Plus uploading. Sometimes it seemed he almost categorically ruled out its feasibility. I never went ______that far but we agreed that many of the arguments in favor of it are premature, highly specula- Copyright 2011 tive, or even circular. I asked him multiple times if he was interested in publishing an article on by Alcor Life Extension Foundation the topic but he politely declined. I think there is no better tribute I can make to Ettinger than All rights reserved. to present his views on “substrate-independent minds’ in a more systematic form. Mike Perry, Reproduction, in whole or part, Mark Plus and Charles Platt also remember Robert Ettinger in this magazine. without permission is prohibited. Changing to another topic, Alcor has a serious problem with members who have not provided enough funding to pay for today’s minimum levels for cryopreservation, in particular Cryonics Magazine is published quarterly. members who have made whole body arrangements. This issue contains an important strate- gic article from the Alcor Board of Directors and Management about underfunding and the To subscribe to the paper edition: sustainability of grandfathering. The Board anticipates making a decision about this problem call 480.905.1906 x101or visit the in early 2012 and this document outlines their outlook. I personally think that their preferred magazine website: solutions strike the right balance between holding individuals responsible for their own cryon- http://www.alcor.org/magazine/ ics arrangements and helping those who have supported Alcor for many years but have a hard ______time bringing their funding up to date. I am a 37 year old whole body member myself and Address correspondence to: I recently was able to secure universal life insurance for $500,000 for a reasonable monthly Cryonics Magazine premium to increase my cryonics funding. I strongly encourage all underfunded members who 7895 East Acoma Drive, Suite 110 are financially able to increase their funding to do so, too. If you do not completely agree with Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 Alcor’s solutions to the underfunding problem, please submit a letter to the editor or submit Phone: 480.905.1906 an article to outline your own perspective. Or register for an account for Alcor’s new member- Toll free: 877.462.5267 only forums at: http://www.alcor.org/forums and weigh in on this important topic. We really Fax: 480.922.9027 want to hear from you. In this issue we also re-publish a characteristic 2003 Physical Immortal- ity piece by Robert Ettinger on the cost of revival and rehabilitation of cryonics patients for context and comparison. Letters to the Editor welcome: If you have read Sterling Blake’s cryonics novel “Chiller” you probably know that Ster- [email protected] ling Blake is the astrophysicist, and long-time Alcor member, Gregory Benford. In this issue’s member profile we will meet this fascinating individual and also learn what he is doing to Advertising inquiries: increase our chances to extend our lives here and now. 480.905.1906 x113 As you can see in our most recent quarterly membership update, Alcor is struggling to [email protected] get to the 1,000 member landmark. Membership growth is slowing because more members are ISSN: 1054-4305 cancelling due to financial hardship, despite our efforts to retain them. Please do not put your cryonics arrangements at the bottom of your priorities and encourage others to make cryonics Visit us on the web at www.alcor.org arrangements as well. We remain optimistic that we can be 1,000 members strong at our 40th anniversary in 2012. Stay tuned for more announcements. Alcor News Blog http://www.alcor.org/blog/ Aschwin de Wolf www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 5 CEO Update

By Max More

What to Do?

recently celebrated my first quarter- Research starts with getting broad in- cessful cryopreservation that the CMS century as an Alcor member. When put into possible research goals consistent policy provides up to $5,000 of relocation I I joined back in 1986, I was the 67th with Alcor’s mission, especially high-value assistance to any terminal member (with a member and Alcor had cryopreserved just projects that are not being done by others. prognosis of 90 days or less) who relocates six patients. Over the last 25 years we have Of the four strategic priorities, so far I have to the greater Phoenix area. Don’t miss out overcome many challenges, made mistakes, given research the least attention. That will on this benefit! You can find more infor- solved problems, and grown in size and change over the last part of this year. mation here: http://www.alcor.org/Be- complexity. Now I find myself in a posi- Supporting each of these strategic pri- comeMember/standby.html tion to affect the direction of the next 25 orities, the whole Alcor team will focus on years. But what to do? Out of all the pos- continuous improvement, or kaizen (“good International Capabilities sible strategic, operational, and managerial change”). The managerial and cultural prac- Although Alcor’s membership is heav- tasks, which should receive the most atten- tice of kaizen involves teamwork, personal ily US-based, we do have a significant num- tion in the near future? discipline, strong morale and engagement, ber of members around the world. Even if To help me keep the merely urgent at a focus on quality, and welcoming and act- we were entirely US-centric, Alcor should bay and to focus on the truly important, I ing on suggestions for improvement from develop better international capabilities be- have settled on four strategic priorities: ro- all sources. cause US members travel overseas. Build- bustness, growth, finances, and research. ing capabilities for international deploy- Robustness includes succession plan- Relocation Assistance for Terminal ment, while desirable, involves additional ning, documentation of processes, patient Members obstacles. Initially, I intend to focus on the security, political protection and relationship- If you should become terminal, are United Kingdom, followed by the rest building, continuous improvement of opera- you aware that Alcor will pay you $5,000 to of Europe, and only then apply lessons tions, prevention of fraud and theft, and a move to the Scottsdale/Phoenix area? The learned to other regions. media action team to respond to criticism. Comprehensive Member Standby (CMS) We are in the very early stages of our Growth includes a speakers’ bureau, program, created in 2005, contains a provi- international response plan. Currently we presence at conferences, updated and im- sion that many members may not be aware are gathering information and making con- proved promotional material, use of social of. The CMS covers both the standby tacts with all relevant and interested parties. media, online video, and development of in- and stabilization and transport phases of These include UK-based cryonicists with ternational membership and response capa- a cryopreservation. We encourage mem- whom we have had previous experience, bility. We can also pursue growth by improv- bers—especially terminal members—to re- Global funeral director Rowland Brothers, ing membership retention and referrals by locate to the Scottsdale area. Being located an embalming company in East Sussex, and being better at communicating with mem- close to Alcor means we can respond rap- some Europe-based cryonicists outside the bers, by heightening the appeal and ease of idly and start procedures early, minimize UK. Among the next steps are checking use of the website, and by organizing and logistical challenges, and control costs. UK laws; updating or replacing equipment publicizing the Alcor-40 2012 conference. Several hospice facilities in the Phoe- currently in the UK; looking into contract Finances includes maintaining a bal- nix and Scottsdale areas know about Alcor paramedic agencies; and visiting England to anced budget, pursuing a solution to un- and welcome our terminal members. They observe UK cryonicists’ skills in a training derfunding and supporting its implemen- cooperate by immediately pronouncing our session and to establish better relationships. tation, and finding new benefactors. It’s members upon clinical death and smooth- We are also planning to deploy a ca- crucial to maintain control over Alcor’s ing the way for our team to do their work. pability for field cryoprotection of neuros finances, otherwise the more we grow the The advantages of being located near to with an open-circuit perfusion of stepped deeper in the hole we could dig ourselves. Alcor are so substantial in ensuring a suc- concentrations of M22 followed by dry

6 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org ice shipping. (This could also be used for ing to sufficiently strongly emphasize the Barry is also helping us deploy the overseas whole body members, although need to provide more funding than current Alcor Speakers’ Bureau to give talks to cryoprotection might initially be limited to minimums. As a result, as deeply under- organizations in the area. Last week, we the brain.) The benefits of this approach funded members are cryopreserved, Alcor started this effort modestly with me giving to neurocryopreservation is that it allows faces huge losses that threaten the survival a talk to the Midtown Lion’s Club. The goal Alcor to provide cryoprotection to its for- of the organization. is to build a reputation and have a voice in eign members; it greatly reduces or elimi- I cannot emphasize enough that the influential local business groups. nates ice-temperature ischemic transport prices will go up! At a modest annual Since last issue, I made several major time (this means that a cryoprotection will inflation rate of 3%, prices double every trips. The first of these was a networking trip take less than 8 hours from pronounce- 24 years. If you will not need cryopreser- to Northern California. There I visited and ment to beginning of descent to dry ice vation for another 48 years, at historically talked to those involved in four organiza- temperature, eliminating 6 to 30 hours of average inflation rates, a cryopreservation tions, each of which included several Alcor ice temperature transit time); and it elimi- cost of $80,000 in 2011 will end up cost- members: Halcyon Molecular, Singularity nates uncertainties related to the time re- ing $320,000. And there’s no guarantee that University, SENS Foundation (Strategies quirements of ice transport, such as transit rates won’t go up more than that, either due for Engineered Negligible Senescence), and permits and airline schedules. to higher average inflation or because the BioTime. Halcyon has a number of Alcor cost of cryonics procedures goes up more members. The principals of the company The Expanded Role of Suspended than general inflation (a situation familiar and I discussed the possibility of making Animation in the medical field). Every Alcor member Alcor membership a company benefit (sub- We can effectively pursue the goals should plan to take measures such as: sidizing or covering the dues). of heightened resilience and continuous • Providing funding well over current The second trip was to Cambridge, improvements not only internally but also minimums England for the fifth SENS conference, or- by partnering with other organizations with ganized by Alcor member Aubrey de Grey. high standards. Alcor has been making use • Adding additional life insurance fund- On the afternoon of Saturday September 3, of the services of Florida-based Suspended ing over time. I gave a talk on “Cryonic Life Extension”. Animation for some time. At the recent • Selecting an insurance policy that pro- This placed cryopreservation in the context Strategic Meeting we saw a presentation vides some inflation protection by of regenerative medicine and our shared by SA and some of their contract medical building value over time and by rein- goals. All signs suggest that the talk was personnel that led to a new policy calling vesting returns. well received—something I was unsure of, for more extensive use of SA’s standby and given that much of the audience now con- transport services. The funding available to Alcor must do more than hope sists of mainstream researchers who may SA means they have been able to develop that members take these actions. After have been unfamiliar with the idea. Several capabilities not available to Alcor. months of detailed deliberation, we have people said they had been thinking about SA now has a network of cardiotho- come up with a range of possible solu- signing up, but would now definitely do so. racic surgeons and clinical perfusionists that tions, one of which seems to us the most We may even receive funding for research they will be attempting to deploy for all their promising. Every member should read or other projects. cases. Alcor adopted a policy of attempting the article on Underfunding and Inflation The third trip was a visit to Cryonics to use SA for all Alcor cases in the continen- [http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/ Institute in Michigan in mid-September. tal U.S. outside of Arizona for which they CryopreservationFundingAndInflation. For details on this, please see Alcor News are available and for which their services html]. During the three-month discussion for September. [http://www.alcor.org/ are clinically indicated. Alcor staff and ACT period, we urge everyone to comment on blog/?m=201109] teams will still be used as emergency first the proposal and tell us if you think you responders. Aaron Drake may sometimes have a better solution. Send your thoughts Smartening Up accompany the SA team. Catherine Baldwin to us privately or post them on the new This coming week, the October Alcor (SA’s Chief Operating Officer) was added Alcor Forum. News will have a more detailed (and illus- to the Alcor Deployment Committee and trated) report on upgrades to the building. made an advisor to the Alcor Board. Getting the Word Out Last year, when I walked into Alcor, I Barry Aarons has long helped Alcor re- felt like I was about to walk straight into a Solving Underfunding and Inflation main on top of potentially damaging legisla- cubicle wall. The space felt crowded, dingy, Alcor has many members who made tion and political developments. Part of this and unwelcoming. cryonics arrangements years ago when has meant Alcor leaders meeting with local The entire area has been repainted, in- minimum funding levels were substan- politicians, so that they know our faces and cluding the chipped baseboards and around tially lower. Unfortunately, those members are less likely to introduce or support legis- the doors. We tore out the cubicle closest (around two-thirds of all members) mostly lation or regulations harmful to our opera- to the door and we turned the area created did not plan to provide for increased fund- tions and our patients. We have remarkably into a reception area that includes a sofa, ing to match rising costs resulting from good relations with primarily conservative chairs, and table that are stylish without be- inflation and new, more expensive proce- Arizona politicians. It now turns to me to ing expensive, a convincing synthetic plant dures. Alcor has also been at fault for fail- maintain this favorable status. (real ones don’t get enough light in that po-

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 7 sition), a Shoji screen, and an “infinity mir- Some office walls have been repainted, regularly check the online news source for ror”. The floors have also been cleaned and and some mid-office areas have new til- items that may not be covered (or covered the facing cubicle wall covered by a metal ing. The operating room and its equipment differently) in the magazine. You will find sheet with “Alcor” emblazoned on it. have been thoroughly cleaned, the floors news on advances that I haven’t mentioned In the conference room, the walls and polished, and dust mats added. A few other here such as major progress with the whole door to the Patient Care Bay have been minor improvements to aesthetics and or- body automated cooldown table and the painted. I observed that the walls were be- ganization remain. These upgrades should new, lighter, stronger, and more compact coming madly crowded with photographs make some visitors more comfortable in a portable ice bath. I’ve heard a couple of of patients and suggested that they should place that can feel industrial and harsh. You complaints that we don’t send out notices be replaced with an electronic display. Steve can see photos of some of the changes in of new issues of the magazine or Alcor Graber ran with that idea and designed and the October issue of Alcor News. News. But we do. If you’re not receiving built an appealing LCD display which cy- Some of you may read Cryonics but not them, ask yourself: Have I given Alcor cles the pictures. the Alcor News email or blog. I urge you to my current email address? 

Membership Statistics

On June 30, 2011, Alcor had 948 members on its Emergency Responsibility List. Thirty- eight (38) memberships were approved during the first six months of 2011, five (5) memberships were reinstated, twenty-four (24) memberships were cancelled and four (4) members were cryopreserved. Overall, there was a net gain of eighteen (18) members this year to date.

8 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org Cryopreservation Funding and Inflation The need for Action

A Discussion Article by the Management and Board of Directors of Alcor September 30, 2011

“Well organized public facilities on a substantial scale will probably exist fairly early in 1966, by present indications. The cost of cryostasis according to several independent estimates will be well within the $8,500 figure I mentioned for preparation and perpetual storage, with easy financing through group insurance or similar plans.”

Robert C.W. Ettinger in his book, The Prospect of , paperback edition, postscript dated October 29, 1965

he cryonics economies anticipated by Robert Ettinger in 1965 were Tnever realized. By the 1970s, the cost of whole body cryopreservation as offered by TransTime and Soma (the for- profit arm of IABS, which later merged with Alcor) was $60,000 (1). As shown in Fig. 1, the nominal dollar cost of cryon- ics has risen steadily with Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation since then. By 2011, the minimum funding for whole body cryopreservation with Alcor was $200,000. Even this large number has not kept pace with inflation, so another increase will be necessary soon. Whenever Alcor has increased cryo- preservation minimums, it has traditionally only required new members to meet new minimum funding requirements. Exist- ing members were “grandfathered,” and allowed to remain members even if their cryopreservation funding fell below new Figure 1 minimums. This was and is believed to be ______important for members who due to age or disability become uninsurable, and would have been encouraged to provide more of the 1980s that diverted 10% of all gross otherwise have to leave Alcor after many than minimum funding. Periods of rapid revenue to the Patient Care Fund, helped years of supporting the organization. growth helped keep the fraction of mem- protect against depletion of long-term care Alcor has managed grandfathering bers with less than minimum funding low. funds by underfunded cases. However the in a variety of ways. Younger members Savings programs, such as the “10% rule” main way that Alcor coped with grandfa-

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 9 thering was by just taking the loss on what was historically a small number of under- funded cases. There was never a quantita- tive analysis of the impact of grandfather- ing, or a specific financial plan for dealing with it. The sustainability of this has been questioned on numerous occasions. In 1991, Ben Best and others expressed con- cerns about grandfathering in a series of articles and letters in Cryonics magazine (2,3,4). Ideas for addressing the inflation problem were sought (5), but none were implemented. There was renewed public concern in 2009 when Charles Platt pub- lished an article about inflation and cry- onics funding in Cryonics magazine (6), followed by a critical article on CryoNet in 2010 that accused Alcor of negligently ignoring the grandfathering problem (7,8). That same year Rob Freitas published a detailed quantitative analysis of Alcor fi- Figure 2 nances based on publicly available infor- ______mation, and concluded that grandfathering was a serious long-term problem (9,10). Ralph Merkle subsequently published an article on cryopreservation funding that outlined 14 possible options for addressing the grandfathering problem (11). In 2011, the Alcor Board of Directors undertook its own quantitative analysis of grandfather- ing using internal data. The results of that analysis are below.

Alcor Member Underfunding in 2011 As of August, 2011, 944 members were signed up in expectation of Alcor per- forming cryopreservations costing $142.6 million as measured by 2011 funding mini- mums. 533 members were signed up for whole body cryopreservation, and 411 members were signed up for neuropreser- vation. The total cryopreservation funding of those members was $122.2 million, a funding shortfall of $19.4 million. This net $19.4 million shortfall consists of the total underfunding ($32.6 million due to 641 un- Figure 3 ______der-minimum funded members) adjusted for the total over-minimum funding ($13.2 million due to 229 over-minimum funded preservation members were underfunded failed to increase whole body minimums members). Most of this over-minimum with underfunding totaling $5.6 million. sufficiently to keep pace with inflation over funding was from 173 members signed up In 2011, as a group, neuropreservation the past two decades, so another increase in for neuropreservation with $9.7 million in members were not underfunded. Under- whole body minimums is necessary soon. funding greater than minimum. funding is a much more serious problem Ordinary inflation of 3% per year will The distribution of members with for whole body members. 444 whole body increase the $142.6 million 2011 cost of funding below and above minimums is members were underfunded with under- cryopreservation procedures for Alcor’s shown in Figs. 2 and 3 for neuropreserva- funding totaling $27 million. The prob- 944 members by $4.3 million per year. This tion and whole body members. 197 neuro- lem is worsened by the fact that Alcor has is an unfunded liability that will grow for

10 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org abandoned in the 1990s, or if it were re-in- stituted, that it might substantially address the problem of grandfathering (12). This is not the case. Even if 10% Rule funds were placed in a fund earmarked to cover all grandfathering costs of cases (which are not just PCT costs), over the past 20 years the 10% Rule would have needed to be close to a 100% Rule to cover the $19.4 million (and growing) difference between 2011 member funding and the 2011 cost of cryonics.

Figure 4 - courtesy Alcor Advisor Geoffrey Shmigelsky Option 5: Use Extraordinary Income ______to Cover Losses from Underfunded decades until underfunded members are above analysis should make clear that it is Cryopreservations cryopreserved. (Most Alcor members are financially impossible for Alcor to perform Although not a conscious policy deci- middle-aged as seen in Fig. 4.) The effects cryopreservations for its present member- sion, this has been the de-facto means by of this are already being felt. Actuarial anal- ship decades in the future in the manner which Alcor has survived case underfund- ysis indicates that Alcor in 2011 can expect that members have come to expect with ing. Grants from wealthy Alcor members 9 cases per year, of which 7 will be under- funding as presently arranged. over the past decade have helped bridge funded by a total of $380,000. This would operating deficits. Windfalls from unantici- be offset by an expected $70,000 per year Option 2: Just Cancel Membership of pated bequests have boosted the value of from cases with above-minimum funding, Underfunded Members the PCT, making up for many underfunded still leaving an expected case funding defi- The Alcor board does not consider cryopreservations. Why not continue to cit of $310,000 per year. This annual deficit this to be a viable option. It would be un- rely on unplanned revenue? will grow with time. fair to unceremoniously cancel members Unfortunately one cannot plan on un- Underfunded cases have been a sub- who supported Alcor for many years, and planned revenue. Furthermore, in absence stantial contributor to Alcor deficits in who may have believed that the funding of sound financial planning, past and po- recent years. They also deplete the Com- they provided was sufficient indefinitely. tential future Alcor benefactors will be hes- prehensive Member Standby (CMS) fund, Alcor views canceling as a last resort, and itant to contribute to an organization that and especially compromise the Patient Care would prefer to create alternatives that is designed to lose money, and that needs Trust. The effects of this can be insidious would Alcor allow to work with each mem- ever-increasing subsidies as membership because in absence of careful monitoring, ber to avoid this wherever possible. grows. There is a longer discussion of the chronic underfunding of the Patient Care importance of long-term planning in Ap- Trust (PCT) might not become obvious Option 3: Contribute Some Part of pendix 2. for years. For example, by 2010 Alcor was Membership Dues to a Fund to Cover drawing on the PCT at a rate of 5% per Underfunding Option 6: Increase Membership year to pay the costs of maintaining its pa- This option has appeal because it Dues to Cover Grandfathering tients in cryopreservation. The PCT draw would be a way for the dues paid by long- In his 2010 econometric analysis of grew to this unsustainable percentage be- time members to finance their own grand- Alcor finances (10), Rob Freitas calculated cause underfunded cases led to the PCT fathering. It may be part of a solution, but that dues and CMS fees would have to be principal not being as large as it should it cannot be the whole solution. Even if increased to $1500 - $1850 per year for ev- have been. The draw only retreated to 2.5% the entirety of the $480,000 in member- ery Alcor member to sustain the practice in 2011 after an unforeseen bequest fortu- ship dues collected by Alcor in 2011 could of grandfathering. This is likely unafford- itously doubled the value of the PCT in late be devoted to such a fund, the fund could able for most present Alcor members. Such 2010. not keep up with the $4.3 million per year a practice might even worsen the under- What follows is a discussion of pos- inflationary increase in the costs of cryo- funding problem by disincentivizing mem- sible options for managing the problem of preserving all Alcor members. Also, mem- bers from providing any more funding than cryonics cost inflation so as to safeguard bership dues are presently an integral part minimum at time of signup. Indeed, most the long-term future of Alcor and its mem- of Alcor’s operating budget. members would need the savings in insur- bers. It concludes with an approach that is ance premiums to pay such high member- presently favored by Alcor’s Board of Di- Option 4: The 10% Rule ship dues. rectors and management. In the 1980s Alcor had a policy of diverting 10% of all incoming revenue to Option 7: Increase Growth Option 1: Maintain the Status Quo the Patient Care Fund, the forerunner of Growth can reduce the percentage of This option is mentioned for com- the Patient Care Trust (PCT). It has been Alcor members who are underfunded by pleteness, but it’s really not an option. The suggested that if this rule had not been loading the membership with newer mem-

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 11 bers who signed up at recent minimums. $50,000). The charge would escalate to REFERENCES However if the new members live for de- 0.67% in the second year, and finally to 1% cades, this only increases the ultimate bur- of the underfunding amount in the third 1. Stephen Bridge, Michael den of underfunding. year and thereafter. If by the third year no Darwin, “The High Cost of members changed their funding or cryo- Cryonics,” Cryonics Jan.-Feb. Option 8: Reduce Quality of preservation method, charges collected (1982). Cryopreservations for Underfunded from all underfunded members would 2. Howard S. Katz, “Funding Members generate $320,000 per year. This would be Cryonic Suspension—A There are some possibilities for cost a sufficient contribution to the Underfund- Critique,” Cryonics Aug. savings in the up-front costs of cryonics, ing Reserve Account to cover the actuarial (1991) 13-16. such as reducing or eliminating standby expectation of underfunded case expenses 3. Ben Best, “A Plea for services, or omitting cryoprotective perfu- for the present time. In the longer term, it Inflation-Proof Cryonics sion. However even if all up-front costs is hoped that this charge would be an in- Financing,” Cryonics Oct. were eliminated, the largest cost for whole centive for members to increase their fund- (1991) 14-17. body patients would still remain. It is the ing with inflation if they are able to do so, required PCT allocation to fund long-term and for new members to plan funding ac- 4. John Connole, “Letter to the storage. Furthermore, some quality reduc- cording to life expectancy. Editor,” Cryonics Oct. (1991) tions, such as deliberate elimination of A Hardship Fund would be established 3-5. cryoprotective perfusion, would result in and seeded by Alcor’s general funds to help 5. Carlos Mondragon, so much damage that prospects of revival pay underfunding charges of long-time “Suspension Funding and would appear greatly reduced, raising seri- members who were not able to do so, and Inflation,” Cryonics Nov. ous scientific and ethical questions. to the extent they were unable to eliminate (1991) 4. their underfunding by other means (e.g., 6. Charles Platt, “Money Option 9: Encourage Members to prepayments, trusts, bequests, conversion Matters in the Middle Arrange Funding Above Minimums to neuropreservation). Alcor would solicit Phase,” Cryonics 4th Quarter Alcor has attempted to do this, and has donations to this Hardship Fund, and we (2009) 12-15. been somewhat successful in persuading would add this fund as an option to which 7. Charles Platt, “Cryoptimism, neuropreservation members to fund above our members could allocate over-minimum Part 1,” CryoNet message minimums. However whole body members funding. Our goal would be to grow this #32975 (2010). have tended to fund closer to minimums, fund to sufficient size to assist all members creating a large long-term problem. Al- facing true financial hardship. 8. Charles Platt, “Cryoptimism, cor needs to do a better job at persuading An easy mechanism would be provid- Part 2,” CryoNet message members to plan funding consistent with ed for whole body members who wished to #32976 (2010). their cryopreservation choices and life ex- convert to neuropreservation membership 9. Robert Freitas, Jr., “Long- pectancy. The following option provides a if they were unable to pay underfunding Term Financial Stability in means for doing so. charges related to their whole body mem- Cryonics,” Cryonics 3rd bership. If a member became seriously de- Quarter (2010) 4. Option 10: Establish an linquent in paying underfunding charges, 10. Robert Freitas, Jr., “Scenario Underfunding Reserve Account automatic conversion to neuropreservation Analysis using a Simple Funded by Underfunding Charges membership might occur under Alcor’s au- Econometric Model of Alcor After extensive consideration and thority within the Cryopreservation Agree- Finances,” Alcor Website study, the Alcor board and management ment. Library, October 15 (2010). believes this is the best idea so far for cop- Alcor management and board believe ing with cryonics cost inflation. An Un- this proposal is a superior alternative to 11. Ralph C. Merkle, “Funding derfunding Reserve Account would be not cryopreserving long-time members Your Cryopreservation,” established. Whenever an underfunded who are underfunded. It begins to address Cryonics 2nd Quarter (2010) cryopreservation was performed, the Un- a deep problem with cryonics finance that 3-6. derfunding Reserve would be drawn upon has been neglected for too long. The board 12. , “The Cost of as necessary to pay the PCT, CMS fund, expects to take action on the underfund- Cryonics,” Cryonics Aug. and Operations accounts the amounts they ing issue in early 2012. Comments on this (1990) 15-36. require according to current minimums. proposal or the problem of underfunding The Underfunding Reserve Account generally are welcome on the Alcor Mem- would be funded by annual charges to ber Forums. n members proportional to the extent of their underfunding. In the first year of im- plementation, the charge would be 0.33% of the member underfunding amount (e.g. $165 for a member underfunded by

12 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org Appendix 1: What are Alcor’s Alcor Operations bursed by the PCT for the portion of the Costs for a Cryonics Case? Costs of in-facility work on cryonics building it rents for patient care. cases, comprising cryoprotective perfusion, In 2011, Alcor’s cryopreservation deep cooling, and placement in long-term These expenses imply a marginal cost funding minimums are $80,000 for neuro- care, are paid for from Alcor general funds. of at least $10,000 per year for each new preservation and $200,000 for whole body They are the only part of cryopreservation storage dewar brought into service, exclud- cryopreservation. These amounts are com- costs that presently don’t have a separate ing labor. The dewars used by Alcor hold posed of: account. Detailed costs for this part of either four whole body patients plus five cryonics include the cost of contract sur- neuropatients, or 45 neuropatients. The an- Neuropreservation geons, consumables, ingredients for cryo- nual marginal cost of maintaining a whole $25,000 to the Comprehensive Member protective perfusate (which can reach $20K body patient is therefore minimally $10,000 Standby (CMS) Fund for whole body cases), liquid nitrogen for / 4.5 = $2200 per year in 2011, or $220 per deep cooling, and depreciation of all the $30,000 to Alcor Operations for neuropatient. necessary capital equipment. Staff costs cryoprotection and deep cooling Alcor attempts to set the PCT por- also need to be paid. tion of cryopreservation minimums so that $25,000 to the Patient Care Trust Gains or losses in this part of cryonics marginal costs of patient care can be met Whole Body Cryopreservation procedures affect Alcor’s general operat- by only a 2% annual draw on principal*. ing budget. In 2010 Alcor began charging a $30,000 to the Comprehensive Member This is to ensure long-term real growth $50K indirect costs charge to cryonics case Standby (CMS) Fund of principal to survive difficult economic funding to help balance the general oper- times and eventually fund revival and rein- $60,000 to Alcor Operations for ating budget. This amount is only drawn tegration. This criterion minimally implies cryoprotection and deep cooling from case funding after the above-de- a required PCT principal of $110,000 per $110,000 to the Patient Care Trust scribed allocations, including PCT amount, whole body patient and $11,000 per neu- have been paid, and only if case funding is ropatient. In 2011 the actual PCT alloca- The CMS Fund sufficient to pay it. Remaining cryopreser- tions of the cryopreservation minimums The Comprehensive Member Standby vation funding, if any, is distributed ac- of whole body patients and neuropatients Fund is a segregated account that Alcor cording to Attachment 1 of the member’s were $110,000 and $25,000 respectively. maintains for the purpose of paying for ev- Cryopreservation Agreement. There is an item related to the PCT on erything Alcor does to respond to cryonics Alcor’s balance sheet called the Deferred cases outside of the Alcor facility. It includes The Patient Care Trust Patient Care Reserve. It is computed as a readiness component, which pays staff The Patient Care Trust (PCT) is a le- (number of neuropatients) * (current neu- salaries in proportion to the amount of time gally separate trust with its own Board of ropatient PCT allocation) + (number of staff members spend on field work and field Directors that is charged with maintaining whole body patients) * (current whole body work readiness. It also pays the marginal and disbursing funds to maintain long- patient PCT allocation). It is intended to be costs of case field work, including transpor- term care of Alcor patients at cryogenic an estimate of the PCT principal required tation, lodging, consumables, and bills when temperature. At the end of August 2011, to sustain Alcor’s current patient population. contractors, such as , the PCT held assets conservatively valued It is recorded as a liability, recognizing that Inc. (SA), are used for case field work. CMS at $7,000,000 and disbursed approximately responsibility for providing patient care is an is funded by an annual $180 charge to Alcor $170,000 a year to Alcor to pay expenses obligation. The remaining PCT equity, $1.5 members, and by $25K and $30K amounts associated with the maintenance of 107 million in August, 2011, is theoretical excess drawn from case funding for neuropreser- patients (71 neuro, 36 whole body). Those funding that may be able to grow to fund vation and whole body cases respectively. expenses were approximately composed of: future revival and reintegration (R&R). The case funding contributions to CMS are $50,000 Liquid Nitrogen *The 2% annual draw criterion was considerably less than the actual costs of a first articulated in the seminal 1990 article, $50,000 Labor (Alcor staff cost billed to full remote case response, with the shortfall The Cost of Cryonics. (The article actually PCT) made up by less expensive local cases and imposed an additional safety factor of two, cases for which there is no advance notice $35,000 Rent*, Utilities, Insurance concluding that principal equal to 100 times before legal death. $30,000 Depreciation (dewars and infra- the annual cost of care should be required.) CMS income and expenses are tracked structure) After abandoning explicit draw criteria for separately from Alcor’s general funds, al- many years, Alcor is attempting to return to $5,000 Miscellaneous lowing Alcor to keep close track of wheth- a 2% criterion. er CMS charges are keeping up with the *Although the PCT owns the company ...... costs of cryonics case field work. that owns Alcor’s building, Alcor leases space from that company and is reim-

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 13 Appendix 2: Message from aren’t needed to cover our immediate ex- bers realize that we have adopted a fiscally Alcor Board Member Ralph penses and trust to Fortune to provide the sound set of policies, they are more likely funds we need in the future.” The best that to donate money to the Endowment Fund Merkle, PhD, on Alcor can be said about this approach is that it to insure the future stability and growth of Financial Planning has not yet destroyed Alcor as an ongoing Alcor. An Alcor on which their own lives and vital organization. The cost has been will also depend. Introduction the constant risk that Alcor would have to Now consider what happens if we Traditionally, Alcor has led a hand-to- slash staffing to the bone, a constant sense draw just a little bit more: 4% per annum. mouth existence, scraping by financially by of uncertainty about the future, and fluctu- At that rate, the Endowment Fund might taking in bequests and donations and bare- ating funding that has exacerbated a stop- not grow at all.2 It might last for decades, ly covering its costs. Underpaying its staff and-go approach to projects that has cost but it might shrink instead of grow. It and with little or no reserve for emergen- us good people and left us building up and certainly wouldn’t enjoy robust growth. It cies, it has been unable to sustain a coher- then abandoning costly infrastructure. might eventually disappear. ent research program except for the peri- The long term impact of compound ods when one or two dedicated members Successful Endowment Funds interest cannot be overstated. As we con- held a research program together by mak- Consider that some of the major insti- sider longer periods of time, the impact of ing great personal sacrifices. tutions in the world, such as Harvard, Stan- compound growth rates grows exponen- The only exception to this bleak pic- ford, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute tially – it compounds. At a 7% real rate of ture was the Patient Care Trust Fund, and others, have major endowments. You return with a 2% draw, that $3.5M in the which was the one area where all agreed might think that these institutions, because Endowment Fund we have today becomes that we could not adopt a short-term “if they have been so successful, have been $9M in 20 years, $24M in 40 years, $64M we’ve got it, spend it” attitude. As a con- able to create large endowments. in 60 years, and that assumes no one else sequence, the PCT is in financially good Actually, it’s the reverse. They are great adds a penny to it. If we add to that initial condition – though even here we’d like to because they have great endowments. The fund, and encourage its growth, it will be do better. miracle of compound interest means that a even larger. And eventually it will be large Some Alcor members have wondered successful endowment is an exponentially enough to fund whatever is needed to make why rich Alcor members have not donated increasing resource over time. An endow- cryonics work – for all of us. more money to Alcor. The major reason is ment with a positive rate of return, sus- But we have to have the discipline to that rich Alcor members are rich because tained long enough, will eventually gener- add to it, to keep it safe, and to let it grow. they know how to manage money, and they ate steady revenue larger than any desired know that Alcor traditionally has managed fixed income stream. The Grasshopper and the Ant money poorly. Why give any significant Alcor currently has $3.5M in its na- The first response of many members amount of money to an organization that scent Endowment, and a firm resolve when they heard we had $3.5M in our En- has no fiscal discipline? It will just spend (for once) to spend only 2% per annum dowment Fund was “Whoopee! Let the it, and put itself right back into the same of those funds. This 2% per annum was good times roll! All of Alcor’s financial financial hole it’s already in. not arrived at lightly – it was the result of problems are solved!” As a case in point, consider Alcor’s extensive discussion by the Board and the Unfortunately, this just isn’t true. At efforts over the year to create an “en- best financial advisors available to the cry- 2% per annum, that $3.5M adds only $70K dowment fund” to stabilize its operating onics community. to Alcor’s annual budget. It’s a stable con- budget. These efforts have always ended If we draw 2% per annum from the tribution of $70K that we can depend on with Alcor spending the money on vari- Endowment Fund, it will grow robustly being there every year, and that stable $70K ous useful activities. These range from re- and exponentially. Even without future per year is going to grow over time as the search projects to subsidizing our existing donations, in two decades it’s likely to ex- Endowment Fund grows, but for this year members – raising dues and minimums is a ceed $9M1. And once our wealthy mem- painful thing to do, and the Board is always 2 If you draw a higher percentage of your invest- reluctant to do this even when the financial ment annually for your own use (4%), and continue data is clear. While each such project is in- 1 This is based on the assumption of a 7% annual to invest in stocks to get their higher annual returns, return. The 2% draw reduces this 7% to 5%, giving then you’ll continue to suffer from the higher risks dividually worthy and has merit, collectively 1.0520 or a factor of 2.65 growth in 20 years. This associated with stocks: you’ll have bad years, and the result has been to thwart the effort to results in $3.5M x 2.65 = $9.3M, which is “likely to because of your higher draw you won’t be able to create a lasting endowment and leave Alcor exceed $9M”. Long term inflation adjusted stock recover as easily. Several bad years in a row and in a financially weak position. returns vary somewhat, but from 1950-2009 the you’ll have little money left. But to reduce your S&P 500 had an inflation adjusted return of 7% risk, you have to avoid stocks, which are risky, and Many have adopted the view that “Al- (http://www.simplestockinvesting.com/SP500- invest in low-risk low-yield securities, which reduce cor has always managed to scrape by, and historical-real-total-returns.htm). Bogle, in “Bogle your overall return. If your real rate of return ever it always will. Let’s spend any funds that on Mutual Funds” gives a real rate of return of becomes negative, you will slowly lose everything. 6.5% from common stocks from 1871 to 1992. Risk and low real returns are synonymous.

14 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org it adds only $70K to our annual budget. the areas and all the fields essential to our To give you a feel for the magnitudes in- future: legal, financial, medical, public rela- volved, our 2010 budget was almost $1.5M, tions, managerial, nanotechnology, nano- so $70K is only about 5% of our budget. medical, business, architecture, computer Definitely helpful, but a far cry from solv- science, and anything else we might need. ing all our problems. An Alcor which can give our members the If we want to provide long term stabil- best cryopreservation possible. An Alcor ity for Alcor, and don’t just want to spend which can provide the most secure long every cent of every donation today, then term storage facilities. An Alcor which is even large donations don’t let us go out respected by the medical community, and and spend money on all the worthy proj- which can persuade that medical com- ects and ideas that we all have in mind. We munity to treat our members wishes with still have to watch our dollars carefully. the respect we deserve and that we must But watching our dollars is worth it have if we are to have the best chance at because a real endowment makes a huge survival. An Alcor which can educate the difference to our future, and the difference world in general and the medical, legal, and is this: by adding donations to the Endow- legislative professionals in particular about ment Fund instead of spending them im- cryonics: what it is, how it can save lives, mediately we (a) have a stable source of and how it can benefit humanity. future funding that we can depend on, Don’t forget the other major task instead of a fluctuating source of fund- ahead of us: we need to revive our patients. ing that might vanish in bad years and (b) Which means we need to make sure the that stable source of funding will grow technology to revive our patients is devel- exponentially. Over time, that exponential oped and used. Much as we might wish growth will give us the immense resources others will do that for us, it’s more likely we need to address the problems that we we’ll have to do a lot of this ourselves. have to address to make cryonics work. Again, the exponentially growing resources The damage caused by unstable fund- that compound interest provides will be es- ing is immense. Assembling the right team sential. for any task usually takes years – and that To do all these things, we need a team can be destroyed with one bad year. healthy Endowment Fund. To do all these Key people leave and can’t be re-hired. The things, we can’t lose money in operations best people in any field don’t want to work and make up for that loss by throwing all for an organization that’s scraping by from our donations and bequests into the breach year to year, so we won’t be able to replace and never getting ahead. To do all these good people when they leave. In fact, we’ll things, we need to base Alcor on sound fis- have a hard time hiring the right people in cal policies. To do all these things, we need the first place. And physical infrastructure to stabilize our finances so they don’t fluc- can be expensive and hard to maintain. tuate wildly from year to year. Without proper funding you can’t buy it in To do all these things, we need to cre- the first place, and without proper funding ate the kind of Alcor that gives all of us the for maintenance, it will decay and become best chance of survival.  unusable.

Conclusion: the benefits of a financially healthy Alcor We have a dream: an Alcor that is fi- nancially healthy. An Alcor that has a large and growing endowment. An Alcor that has the resources to face the inevitable emergencies that will arise which might threaten our patients. An Alcor which has the stability and the resources to attract and retain the best and the brightest in all

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 15 Robert Ettinger: Some Brief Historical and Personal Notes

By Mike Perry

n 1962 Robert Ettinger completed the national Conference on the Scientific Prospects for first version of The Prospect of Immor- Physical Immortality. The number [who at- Itality and began to circulate it, hoping tended] depends on how adept you are at to spur some interest in the idea of freez- counting shadows, waitresses, correspon- ing the newly deceased for eventual reani- dents, and broadcast reporters. Twenty continuation of the morning’s attempt to mation, or what would later be known as registered, eighteen paid, while fifteen were find and agree on a program.… There were cryonics. (Some earlier terms for the idea able to attend. …” the usual differences of opinion on both were “freeze and wait” and “freeze-wait- The morning session opened with the days with such strong-minded individual- reanimate.”) That same year Evan Cooper, recognition that “practical aging control, ists. However the name Life Extension So- working independently (and writing under for all the promise of present research, lies ciety was adopted until and unless a better the pseudonym “N. Duhring” signifying in the distant future.” As a consequence, one can be found.” Cooper also mentions “enduring”), completed his own book, Im- “we should get down to business on a Ettinger’s book, The Prospect of Immortality, mortality: Physically, Scientifically, Now, with freezing program for those who wish a whose expanded, commercial version was essentially the same idea. (Cooper actu- plan for preservation in the event of any nearing publication. This would occur in ally advocated storage in permafrost or a immediate deaths.” The speaker who start- June, 1964; the August issue of the LES conventional deep freeze but soon would ed things off, Larry Jensen, “who teaches newsletter has a report, reprinted below agree with Ettinger that much colder stor- at Castleton College [Vermont], where they with minor corrections. age in liquid nitrogen was preferred.) The call him the ice man, is one of the original two men corresponded during 1963, while formulators of the freeze and wait theory. BIG NEWS OF THE SUMMER: Cooper especially focused on the problem He has helped spread the idea on radio “Bob Ettinger’s book The Pros- of how to organize a movement, with a broadcasts, wrote to President Kennedy pect of Immortality was released by non-profit organization called the Life Ex- in May, gave a talk at Green Mt. College, Doubleday June 5th, coinciding with tension Society, a newsletter, correspon- where the response was highly positive, and a short serialization in Cosmopolitan, dents (in a “letters” column in the newslet- has taken out $10,000 in extra insurance to and a thoughtful article by Fred Pohl ter), conferences and the like. guaranty [sic] a very cool resting place in in Playboy. Quite a number of radio Cooper’s and others’ efforts that year the event of death.” (Larry Jensen—Law- and TV stations carried and are con- culminated in the first formal gathering de- rence Neil Jensen—was an artist, author tinuing to carry interviews of Ettinger voted to the freezing idea, a two-day event and professor who is listed repeatedly in and discussions of the freeze-wait- that began on Saturday, December 28. The the LES newsletter as a contact. But after resuscitate idea. Bob’s book has been location was Marty Laffal’s Charcoal Steak the first conference and despite the insur- translated into French, and LES mem- House, 1801 H Street N.W., Washington, ance policy, he does not seem to have had bers report seeing it in paperback on DC, near Cooper’s residence. One spinoff much active involvement or longstanding Paris newsstands. was the creation of the first cryonics-pro- interest in cryonics; he died in 2000, with “The book itself is a marvel of lu- motional organization (though again the no report of cryopreservation. Ev Cooper, cidity and forceful writing. Among the word “cryonics” had not been invented), for his part, was active for a few years but many contributions, the emergency the Life Extension Society (LES), whose then dropped out and was lost at sea in dry ice freezing and storage sugges- newsletter first appeared in January the fol- 1982. Ettinger, of course, maintained his tion is of special interest because the lowing year, with a recounting of events interest and involvement throughout and next step [after vital signs cease] is the written by Cooper himself: “The last week- was finally cryopreserved this summer at actual preservation by freezing of [the] end of 1963 rang down and out with per- the age of 92. person who has just “died.” The dry haps the world’s smallest conference and “Bob Ettinger led the afternoon ses- ice method is an emergency method, time’s most imposing title: The First Inter- sion,” Cooper goes on, “… primarily a for it is preferable that the lower tem-

16 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org peratures of evaporating liquid gases ety for Venturism, a cryonics-promoting cal and practical pivots are so subtle, or so be used, but the latter are not always 501(c)(3) organization dedicated, among dependent on elements of chance, that available. Dry ice is in much more other things, to seeing that persons who identifying them is hopeless. common supply, easier to handle, and are cryopreserved are eventually resuscitat- Eugen Leitl says uploaders should the cost of cooling can be made less ed. (It is a sticking point with some people be prime candidates for cryonics. Again, expensive with sufficient insulation. that no one will care to resuscitate them, while the statistics may show a slight favor- The temperature of dry ice (-78 C) is supposing cryonics would otherwise work. able bias, it isn’t enough to be practically lower than any ordinary deep freeze. The Venturists, and some organizations meaningful. It’s a little bit like saying that Depending on the insulation and the more recently formed with a similar out- rich people should be prime candidates, be- number stored, Ettinger estimates that look, aim to address that possible problem cause “logically” they can easily spare the the cost could run from $4 to 10¢ per by offering unconditional support if and money, so what’s to lose? But it’s not the frozen person per day. An inexpensive when it should be needed.) logical that rules—it’s the psychological, storage unit could be built with suffi- I’ll close this little pastiche with some and psychology is not an exact science (or cient room for the person’s body and a words from the man himself, a Cryonet even a “fuzzy” science). compartment for dry ice immediately message in the 1990s that hasn’t lost its rel- Locate the interested people? We have above. The body would be transferred evance and also recounts some earlier his- drawers full of names of people who have when a better storage system became tory. (Again I’ve made minor corrections. sent queries over the years, but on our available. “Mae,” is the former Mae Junod who mar- sporadic attempts to follow them up we “Response to the book has been ried Ettinger after his first wife Elaine was get mostly no response or notice that they varied—from enthusiasm to irritation frozen in 1987.) have moved to an unknown address. (Yes, with anything so revolutionary. It has ...... we should have been and should be more been reviewed by a number of the ma- X-Message-Number: 4414 systematic about this.) jor mass media publications indicating From: [email protected] My general impression, once more, they are considering the possibility Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 17:13:15 -0400 is that only two things do much good in that Ettinger’s is a significant book. Subject: recruitment cryonics advertising or public relations: (1) “Jean Rostand wrote a preface stating Get as much free publicity as you can, pro- that the idea is solid. Gerald Gruman Saul Kent says we (cryonicists) are dif- vided it is dignified, and (2) Use as much with his extensive background knowl- ferent in psychology and that we should personal contact and influence as practi- edge of the history of the concept of try to identify those who are interested but cable. (The average cost per successful re- immortality wrote a second preface haven’t done anything about it. cruitment is very high, and when you have noting how great ideas such as this Of course we are different—but not, someone definitely interested a lot of addi- have often taken considerable time in as far as I can see, in any visible and use- tional expense and effort may be justified.) taking hold. Penicillin, for example, is ful way. Who set it in motion originally, or Finally, as Saul says, support for re- said to have taken 16 years between its tried to do so? I wrote a book (after pre- search is extremely important both directly, discovery and its use. vious fitful efforts over many years), Evan for improving the patients’ chances, and in- “Congratulations are more than in Cooper wrote a somewhat similar book, directly in many ways including its effect on order. It is a great event toward the de- and Lawrence Jensen, an art professor (yes, our credibility. And Saul (with Bill Faloon) feat of death.” a PAINTER) at Castleton State College has done much more than most in this area, in Vermont, was planning to do so (and as well as having been an important con- Prospect would launch the cryonics maybe others of whom we haven’t heard). tributor to the growth of Alcor. But again, movement, at least in the mind of most Those who read my book and instantly re- this is nothing new. of the public, and Ettinger would go on to sponded included Saul, , What is the point of all this rumina- a long involvement with it, including such Mike Darwin (a child of 12 at the time), tion? Perhaps recruitment should focus on milestones as publication of other books Paul Segall, Harry Waitz, Art Quaife, Greg two strategies: (1) Use the shotgun and free and the founding of the Cryonics Institute Fahy, my brother Alan, my son David (who publicity; (2) Keep a hard squeeze on those in 1976, today one of the two largest cry- explained it on TV at age 15), already in the vise. Mae occasionally gives onics organizations with over 100 patients. (I think), Jerry White (I think), and some money to the Republicans, and every do- On the personal level, Bob was a long- others to whom I apologize for omission nation is instantly followed by a flood of time friend. His kindness and thoughtful- of names. But what do they have in com- requests for more and larger donations. Of ness were apparent when, for example, he mon—not counting my relatives? course, that doesn’t work with her; the cost would go to lengths to photocopy histori- The writers or would-be writers of of the request mailings probably exceeds cal material I was interested in (though he books—myself, Ev Cooper, and Larry her total donations. But one supposes their told me he wasn’t), or the time he wrote a Jensen—were very different people, with technique must work, on average, since nice, consoling letter when my mother died almost nothing in common, as far as I can they keep doing it. and was buried. He also had an apprecia- see, or nothing that was not also shared by tion of larger issues than merely extending enormous numbers of people. The same Robert Ettinger life, important though it is, as shown when goes for the instant responders. The con- Cryonics Institute he became a board member of the Soci- clusion, once more, is that the psychologi-

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 17 The 22nd Century Boy

By Mark Plus

The place: Tulsa, Oklahoma. haps Even Inevitable. . . And It Can Hap- done a little here and there over the years to The time: Summer, 1974. pen to You!” keep Mr. Ettinger’s vision alive. A 14 year old boy, interested in both The boy then opened the book to the I even got to meet Robert Ettinger and science fiction and science, had watched a Preface and read, “By working hard and his wife Mae once at cryonicist Don Laugh- TV series popular in the early 1970s called saving my money, I intend to become an lin’s ranch near Kingman, Arizona, in 1994. The Six Million Dollar Man. The show’s immortal superman.” I told Mr. Ettinger how much Man Into premise? An astronaut named Steve Austin, How could this boy resist buying Superman meant to me, and how I thought an appropriate hero for the era, had crashed and reading such a book? So he bought it he deserved more credit for anticipating an experimental craft and suffered severe without hesitation, took it home, studied it the “transhumanist” movement which had injuries, losing both legs, an arm and an eye. backwards and forwards over the next few started to organize around the internet by U.S. government scientists with unlimited weeks and pondered its implications. that time. Mr. Ettinger gave a talk to the funding at their disposal decided to rebuild He soon realized that this Mr. Ettinger, cryonicist guests at the ranch about how he this astronaut using a technology called “bi- apparently a very smart man, had provided came up with the cryonics idea and found onics”; they restored his limbs with artificial some missing pieces which could make be- a publisher for his first book, and I appre- replacements which made much him faster coming a real-life Steve Austin a practical ciated his earthy realism about human na- and stronger than an ordinary human, and proposition. Obviously the superhuman ture and the obstacles it presents to making they gave him super-vision with an artificial would need upgrades so that he doesn’t age cryonics socially acceptable. In addition I “bionic eye.” The series then showed this and could live for a really, really long time. talked to Mae Ettinger, and asked how to enhanced man’s adventures as a kind of But we didn’t have the technology to do buy a copy of a book she had published. secret agent, where his bionic powers gave that in the 1970’s, as we still don’t in 2011. (Amazon hadn’t gone into business yet.) him the edge in every sticky situation. So, Ettinger argues, people alive now need a She graciously mailed me a copy later. How fantastic, this teen boy thought, way to reach the time when they can benefit I regret that I couldn’t get to know how cool! Would that he could live to see from such technologies, and he presents the Mr. Ettinger better personally on this side the day when everyone had such superhu- idea of cryonic suspension as the means, of the gulf of time which cryonicists have man powers, himself included! He had even often referencing his earlier book, The Pros- to cross to reach the era of “immortal su- started to look for books about creating pect of Immortality, which the boy didn’t have permen.” If both of us make the journey such “bionic” people in the library. access to at the time. safely, I hope to talk to Mr. Ettinger again, One hot summer day that year, this Moreover, Ettinger describes one and to ask him what he thinks of “the fu- young man walked the half mile from his mind-blowing idea after another about the ture” he had organized his life thinking home to the Skaggs drugstore and super- potentials and lifestyle options for “im- about and had implicitly invited me to share market on the corner of 31st Street & Gar- mortal supermen” in a long, long future, with him. Even if what I call Future World nett in east Tulsa to look over the paperback speculations usually based on the scientific has aspects we might find unsatisfactory, books, at a time when serious books still literature of the time which he provides ref- confusing or alienating at first, assuming appeared in mass market paperbacks after erences to in the back of his book. that we have plenty of time ahead of us, their hardcover releases. He noticed the As unlikely as it sounds, the experience we can probably create worthwhile lives for cover of a paperback with unattractive psy- of reading that book transformed this boy’s ourselves and not regret our one-way mi- chedelic artwork (which had already started outlook on life and in effect projected him gration across the centuries, especially as we to look dated by 1974), titled Man Into Su- mentally decades and even centuries ahead revived cryonauts renew our relationships perman, by someone named R.C.W. Ettinger. of his contemporaries, much as Mr. Et- and look out for one other; I would certain- The caption above the title said, “The Star- tinger had intended. ly try to help Mr. Ettinger in that situation tling Potential of Human Evolution. . . And To make a long story short, that as repayment for what he has given me. As How to Be Part of It.” The caption below 14-year-old boy grew up into a cryonics Mr. Ettinger argues in his writings, we will the artwork said, “How Would You Like to activist, namely, the author of this remi- probably have superior adaptability working Live for Centuries? Develop an Infallible niscence of his first encounter with Robert for us as part of our basic endowment at Memory? Become Impervious to Cold, Ettinger’s many life-transformative ideas. I revival. What does “immortal superman” Heat, Hunger, Thirst? It’s Possible. . . Per- signed up with Alcor in 1990, and I have mean, after all? 

18 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org Bob Ettinger and the Cryobiologists

By Charles Platt

have often wondered how cryonics being revived after being preserved by des- would have developed if Bob Ettinger iccation. Bob Ettinger once told me that he Ihad not been around to champion the was aware of this novel. cause. His contributions are obvious: His Clearly, cryonics was a concept that was seminal book energized activists from Cur- ready to happen. Bob’s singular achievement tis Henderson to Bob Nelson, and precipi- was that he used the media to popularize it, tated the first cryonics cases. Without him, encouraged its first application to human ______would cryonics even exist? beings, and led an organization that pursued His contributions are We should remember that Ev Cooper it with truly remarkable persistence. (writing as “N. Duhring”) came up with the I once asked him if he felt that me- obvious: His seminal book idea separately and circulated his manu- dia coverage for cryonics in the 1960s had script Immortality: Physically, Scientifically, Now scared cryobiologists away from their prior energized activists from two years before Doubleday published its work on organ cryopreservation. He read- edition of Bob’s book in 1964. Cooper’s ily agreed that the early cryonics cases un- Curtis Henderson to Life Extension Society could legitimately nerved the scientific community, but of claim to be the first cryonics organization, course he tended to blame them for their Bob Nelson, and although of course it was only a discussion lack of courage and vision. precipitated the first group. Karl Werner had not yet come up I had significant differences with Bob, with the word “cryonics.” most notably in the mid-1990s when the cryonics cases. Looking back farther, British scientists protocol at CI appeared to violate basic Alan Parkes, Christopher Polge, and Audrey cryobiological principles for minimizing Without him, would Smith evidently considered the possibility ice formation during initial cooling. (CI has of human cryopreservation in the 1950s. subsequently made great efforts to use rap- cryonics even exist? Their success in cryopreserving red blood id cooling, as opposed to the slow process cells and bull semen led Parkes to remark, that was applied previously.) Bob scoffed at ______in an article in Scientific American: “Inevi- me for paying attention to anything a cryo- tably, we were drawn to a still more fascinat- biologist would say, but I think mostly he ing question: Could a whole animal survive felt that their concerns were irrelevant. He freezing?” Smith subsequently pursued the seemed to believe that future science would reversible cryopreservation of hamsters, be able to fix pretty much anything. When and Greg Fahy once showed me a paper he moved to Phoenix for a while, I was coauthored by her that discussed the chal- told by someone at Alcor that he politely lenge of rewarming larger mammals. I don’t declined their offer of local standby help in think it was coincidental that an illustration the event that he might need it. As always, suggested something big enough for a hu- he placed his trust in a local mortician, a man being. shot of heparin, some chest compressions, Going back farther, the implications of and a few bags of ice. stopping and restarting life processes were This optimism inevitably put him at explored in Luyet’s book “Life and Death at odds with the scientific community. We can Low Temperatures,” based on his pioneer- only wait to find out whether he or they will ing work in the 1930s and 1940s. And still have the last laugh. farther back, in 1862, a novel titled “The For myself, I hope that his optimism Man with the Broken Ear” by French au- was not misplaced.  thor Edmond About described a person

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 19 COST OF REVIVAL AND REHABILITATION

By Robert Ettinger

Reprinted from Physical Immortality 3rd Qtr 2003, 12, published by the Society for Venturism

______ike Perry and David Pizer have out any conflicts of interest, are the Boards kindly asked me to write some- of Directors of the cryonics organizations. The only people likely Mthing for the Venturist maga- If a bank or similar institution is a zine. Instead of waving a flag or blowing trustee, or is hired by the trustee to man- a trumpet again, I think this time I’ll limit age the investments, you are likely to get to be qualified to make myself to a practical question that arises mediocre returns for substantial fees, the cryonics-related decisions, fairly often—whether the average member net result being less than mediocre returns. will be able to afford revival and rehabili- If the bank also has authority over other and without any conflicts of tation, even if the technical capability be- types of decisions, you are really sticking comes available. There have been many your neck out. interest, are the Boards of inquiries received by all the organizations, Don’t forget also that laws and regu- and many articles written, about how to lations can change. Delaware recently re- Directors of the set aside earmarked funds for an individual scinded most aspects of its rule against patient, for use in revival, rehabilitation, perpetuities, but nothing guarantees that cryonics organizations. and life afterwards. The recommendations they won’t do another 180-degree turn ______usually involve a trust fund in a jurisdiction some time in the future. If you have a Del- that does not have the Rule Against Perpe- aware trust at that point, your trust will be tuities, that can go on as long as necessary. stuck at minimum with substantial attor- States sometimes mentioned include South ney fees to deal with the new situation. If Dakota and Delaware, and foreign coun- your money is just in your organization’s tries have included Liechtenstein. general fund, it remains as safe as the or- We at Cryonics Institute don’t discour- ganization is. age such trusts, and we can supply the names Some of us at CI, Mae and myself in- of attorneys outside of CI with experience cluded, have decided long since that our best in this area, but I personally see more prob- bet is just to give CI the bulk of our estates lems than potential in this approach. (whether by bequest or otherwise or a com- First, you need a trustee or trust- bination). This will NOT earmark the funds ees, and successor trustee(s), willing and for our own exclusive personal benefit, but competent to do the job. Rotsa ruck. The will strengthen the organization and hence “job” includes managing the investments improve the chances of all our patients. and also making decisions, if necessary, As a small bonus, the CI contract also concerning possible emergencies such as specifies that, other things equal, if not all a cryonics organization suddenly being benefits can be supplied to all patients at strapped for money. Or a decision might the same time, then those funded at higher be needed as to which revival procedure to levels will have priority consideration. For use, or which type of rehabilitation, and so example, if at a particular time the cost of on. The only people likely to be qualified to revival and rehabilitation is too high for all make cryonics-related decisions, and with- eligible patients at once, then those funded

20 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org at minimum levels might have to wait longer. First, we figure a minimum of $20,000 Looking at it in a slightly different way, This approach rubs some people the per patient invested for income to pay for any technical procedure should diminish in wrong way, partly on an “ideological” ba- ongoing care. At revival time, that money will relative cost over time, in most cases even- sis. They think it smacks of communism or be freed up for revival and rehabilitation. tually to near zero. At an earlier time in his- something if everyone doesn’t pay his own tory, paper clips were expensive, but no one way separately. But that is simplistic think- ______today would demand payment for a paper ing. For one thing, few of us demand that clip. Today some people pay money for every member of a family “pull his own If you are willing to bottled water, but almost anyone will give weight” without exception; the stronger or you a glass of tap water without charge. luckier are willing to help the weaker or less trust your person to your Further, there have always been some lucky. And in the end this doesn’t necessar- do-gooders around, and this is likely to ily mean a sacrifice by the stronger, since organization, you should increase, not decrease. Doctors Without it is the group strength that will ultimately Borders and all that. At some point the prevail or fail. Nor must we underestimate also, it seems to me, be cryopreserved will be legally reclassified, the importance of morale, which is stron- no longer “deceased” but suspended, with ger if we all pull together. willing to trust it with all that implies about moral and legal obli- Remember too that your chances are your money, which is less gations. And many of us, if not most, will correlated with the rate of growth of your have friends and relatives willing to go to organization, and that is sensitive to the important. bat for us, even some outside of the cryon- timing of contributions. Something now ics organizations. is more important than something later. If ______Remember too, that many members you are willing to trust your person to your will be suspended many years from now, organization, you should also, it seems to Next, we expect CI’s assets to grow, perhaps by much improved methods, which me, be willing to trust it with your money, partly by participation in the growth of may mean much less expensive revival. which is less important. the wealth of society as a whole, and partly As usual, nothing about the future is But the question remains, where will through growth in membership and other assured. You consult your own value sys- the money come from for revival and re- kinds of revenue. Barring calamity, those tem, if you have one (unlikely), then you habilitation, for CI patients? The answer assets should eventually reach any required make your estimates and place your bet and comes in several parts. amount. take your chances. 

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www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 21 Can You Build a Locomotive out of Helium?

Robert Ettinger on Substrate-Independent Minds

Introduction and Afterword by Aschwin de Wolf

Introduction computer and you could then live an incom- doubts, but they are based entirely on the Robert Ettinger, the “father of cryon- parably bigger and better life as a simula- evidence, or lack thereof. ics,” was cryopreserved on July 23, 2011. tion or emulation. “The most radical of the ‘strong AI’ While Ettinger’s book Man into Superman “I think the uploading thesis is proba- people believe that all thinking is infor- (1972) is considered an important contri- bly wrong, although (as usual) it’s too soon mation processing, and all information bution to transhumanism, he increasingly to be sure. But the issue is a significant part processing is thinking; and they appear to came to recognize that most people do not of modern philosophy, and potentially has believe that consciousness is just an expres- desire a hard break with the past and re- enormous practical importance. sion of complexity in thinking. sist radical transformation. During the last “…I am among the radicals in the ex- “People who talk this way must be ad- years of his life he became a vocal critic pectations for AI. But intelligence is not mired for boldness and strength of convic- of ‘mind uploading’ as a means of personal life. It is by no means proven that life as we tion, but I think not for clarity of thought. survival and spent a considerable amount know it with subjective experience can exist “The point is, all physical phenom- of time refining his arguments why mind on an arbitrary substrate, such as silicon.” ena, all interactions, involve information uploading is not likely to work. This docu- (Youniverse) processing in some sense. But that isn’t all ment organizes excerpts from his last book they do. A computer, or a person with pen- Youniverse and mailing list messages on the Information cil and paper, could figure out—describe topic of substrate independent minds. In “One extreme school of thought holds or predict—what the atoms do, and that the afterword, I make a brief attempt to that information and its processing constitute would be an analog of the information place his contributions in a broader philo- everything that is important. In particular, processing part of the phenomenon; but sophical context. you are essentially just a collection of infor- only the actual, physical atoms can form The title of this document refers to a mation, including a program for process- an oxygen molecule. And to anthropomor- message that Robert Ettinger sent to the ing that information. Your ‘hardware’—the phize or analogize ‘feelings’ and ‘thoughts’ Cryonics Institute mailing list on July 21, nervous tissue that embodies and handles into these phenomena is simply unjustified. 2011. In response to the claim that the hu- the information—is only secondary. It amounts to declaring, by fiat, that think- man mind is a machine, and that the func- “My conclusion will be that it is not ing and feeling are inherent in information tion of any machine can be duplicated by a necessarily possible—even in principle— processing; but saying so doesn’t make it machine built of another material, Ettinger for consciousness to exist on an inorganic so.” (Youniverse) asked, “Can you build a locomotive out of helium?” substrate, and in fact that it is unlikely. “Sometimes the doubters are accused Turing Tests and Zombies Mind Uploading of dualism—the increasingly discredited “Alan Turing was a brilliant mathema- “A large and burgeoning group of belief that the living and inanimate worlds, tician and computer pioneer. He played an scientists, including some of the brightest, or the material and the spiritual worlds, are extraordinary part in winning World War II believe that—in principle—computers will separate. through his work in cryptography for Brit- fairly soon be able to think in the fullest “This certainly is not true of me or of ish Intelligence. He also showed many of sense of the word. They will be living, con- many others who question the information the potential capabilities of general com- scious entities with feelings and subjective paradigm. I am a thoroughgoing material- puters. But one of the works for which experiences. ist and reductionist. I will not feel in the he is most famous is badly flawed or has “A corollary—many believe—is that least dehumanized if it turns out the infor- been badly misused—the ‘Turing test’ for your persona could be uploaded into a mation paradigm is right…I have strong intelligence/-consciousness.

22 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org “Again, I am a firm materialist and re- we must reserve judgment as to the pos- have to work with are the mechanical ductionist: I readily concede the possibility sibility of inorganic people. (Youniverse) forces transmitted by rigid bodies. Can that a machine could (conceivably) have “Uploaders tend to put faith in the you make an electric motor out of tinker life and consciousness. But I deny that we Turing Test for human intelligence, and to toys? Can you build a synchrotron out of can assume that (inorganic) machines have believe that zombies cannot exist. Let’s take wooden boards and nails? Uploaders think this potential; and with still more help a quick look. a computer (of the electronic variety) can from Turing I think I can make the case “Communicating (say) by email, a tes- be a person: how about a Babbage mechan- persuasive. tor tries to determine whether the testee is ical computer made of rods and gears? Pre- “‘Uploaders’ or ‘upmorphists’ or pat- a human or a computer program. Passing sumably, any kind of information process- ternists generally maintain that our identity the test supposedly proves the testee is hu- ing and storage can be done by a collection resides in our information content. Their man or equivalent. But the test is clearly of rods and gears but could rods and gears most extreme position is patently absurd— worthless, since it produces both false conceivably be conscious? I doubt it; not that ‘we’ literally persist, in some degree, positives and false negatives. As much as all media are created equal. So it is entirely if any of the information about us is pre- 50 years ago Eliza, a program pretending possible that organic brains have potenti- served, even our writings or biographical to be a psychiatrist, fooled many people— alities not realizable anywhere else in the data. (Shades of Woody Allen! ‘I don’t want false positives. And of course a child or a universe.” (Youniverse) to live on in my works; I want to live on in retarded person could perform below par “Just ask yourself what consciousness my apartment.’) Anyone who believes this and produce a false negative. The Turing is—what physical condition or process needs more help than I can provide. test is baloney. constitutes consciousness. You don’t know, “Turing ingeniously showed that a “In similar vein, uploaders tend to be- hence you cannot know that a simulation strip of paper tape marked in squares, with lieve that something which outwardly be- fills the bill.” (Cryonics Institute Mailing List, zeroes or ones marked on the squares ac- haves like a person must be a person. They September 16, 2010) cording to certain rules, along with a simple reject the possibility of zombies, systems mechanism for moving the tape and mak- that by their actions appear to be sentient Petitio Principii ing or erasing marks, could be a universal but are not. Yet it is often easy to fool peo- “It seems to me that all the computer- information processor—i.e., it could ac- ple, and, as already noted, programs have metaphor people… keep making the same complish any information processing task fooled people even though no one claims error over and over again—assuming as a that any digital computer (serial or parallel) the programs were alive.” (Cryonics Institute premise the very hypothesis they are trying could do, given enough time. It could even Mailing List, September 9, 2010).” to establish. When the premise is the same produce any result that a quantum com- as the conclusion, naturally the conclusion puter might, albeit at a teeny-tiny fraction Imperfect Simulations follows from the premise. They refer re- of the speed. “..any simulation created in the fore- peatedly to ‘all computational devices’ etc., “You certainly can’t claim that a pa- seeable future will be imperfect, because it implying that the brain is just that—an- per tape (even when it is moving) is alive will necessarily reflect current theories of other computational device—when in fact or conscious! Yet that tape, in theory, could physics, and these are known to be incom- that is precisely what is at issue: Is the brain produce any response that a person could plete and almost certainly in error to some possibly something more than a computa- to a particular stimulus—if by ‘response’ extent or in some domains. Whether this tional device? The computer metaphor is we mean a signal sent to the outside world, would necessarily result in material devia- plausible (and I am not in the least uncom- suitably coded. It could converse with per- tions of the simulation from the course of fortable with it) but plausibility isn’t proof.” fect fidelity to an individual’s character, and nature, and in particular whether it would (Youniverse) over a teletype could fool that person’s hus- preclude feeling, we don’t yet know. But band or wife. we do know that the simulation would be The Map is not the Territory “My original objection to the upload- wrong, which in itself is enough to justify “Adherents of the ‘information para- ing assumption was simply that we don’t withholding judgment on the possibility of digm,’ I believe, are deceived in part by know anything about consciousness or living computers.” (Youniverse) glibness about ‘information’ and hasty ways feeling, hence it is premature to assume of looking at it. that it can exist other than where we know Analog Failures “Apprently it needs to be said again it exists, viz., in organic brains. It is entirely “The uploading thesis depends on the and again: a description of a thing or a possible that meat machines (as opposed assumption that any organic process in the process—no matter how accurate and to machines of silicon or metal etc.) have brain can be duplicated by analog in some how nearly complete—is not the same some unique quality that allows the emer- other medium but this not only isn’t obvi- as the thing or the process itself. To as- gence of feeling and consciousness. Until ous; it’s nonsense. sume that isomorphism is enough is just we can isolate and define the mechanisms “For example, suppose a certain pro- that—an assumption, not self-evidently of feeling—of the subjective condition— cess depends on magnetism, and all you permissible.

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 23 “Even though (for example) a com- Afterword could we settle the question of whether a puter program can in principle describe or Robert Ettinger presented a number copy is “really you?” Obviously, a copy of predict the behavior of a water molecule in of distinct arguments (no fewer than fif- something will always confirm that (s)he is virtually all circumstances, a water molecule teen, by his own count!) against mind up- really him- or herself but that is of little for most purposes cannot be replaced by loading and I cannot pretend to have pre- help in resolving the question. Similarly, we its description or program. If you pile up sented them all in this document. I think may never be able to conclusively verify (or 6.02 x 1023 computers with their programs, there are a number of core positions asso- falsify) that a computer has consciousness you will not have 18 grams of water, and ciated with Ettinger’s argument that can be or feelings. Is it even conceivable that new you will have a hard time drinking it or wa- stated quite succinctly, however. super-intelligent life forms will replace hu- tering your plants.” (Youniverse) mans without being conscious or having “Eliezer Yudkowsky (and other up- 1. Whether mind uploading is possible is feelings! Evolution selects for fitness, and loaders) claim that mapping a system re- ultimately an empirical question and whether this implies consciousness is an sults in a map that effectively has the same cannot be settled conclusively by anal- open question. properties as the original. Well, look again at ogies or thought experiments. So who is right, Robert Ettinger or his one of my counter-examples. I write down critics? I think what captures Ettinger’s per- with pencil and paper the quantum descrip- 2. A description of a material object is spective the best is to say that if you expect not necessarily the same as the object. tion of a hydrogen atom in its ground state. an answer right now, you have not paid close  It could hardly be more obvious that the 3. A simulation must be erroneous be- attention to his argument. marks on paper do not constitute a hydro- cause the program necessarily is based gen atom. And if you put side by side two on our incomplete knowledge about papers describing two hydrogen atoms, physics. they will not combine to form a hydrogen molecule. In principle, of course (the math 4. Consciousness may be substrate-de- is difficult) you could write down expres- pendent. sions corresponding to the formation of hydrogen molecules from hydrogen atoms, 5. A copy of a person may not constitute but you will still have just marks on paper. personal survival. Once more, a simulation is just a cod- ed description of a thing, not the thing it- The common denominator that runs self.” (Cryonics Institute Mailing List, September through Ettinger’s critique of substrate-in- 18, 2010) dependent minds is a thorough empiricism about knowledge. Ettinger does not cat- Identity egorically rule out the feasibility of mind “The term ‘identical’ is used in dif- unloading but takes people to task for dog- ferent ways by different people. To some, matic claims on these topics in absence of two systems are identical if they differ only empirical corroboration. in location, e.g. two hydrogen atoms in Ettinger was particularly irritated by ground state. But I have pointed out that the claim that materialism commits a per- a difference in location necessarily implies son to the acceptance of mind uploading. other differences as well, such as gravita- He could not see how a rejection of the tional fields. Hence my position is that, if soul excludes the view that certain materi- the question arises, are A and B identical, als are uniquely suitable, or even exclusively then they are not. suitable, for a certain function. One might “If two systems differ in spatial or add that it is even conceivable that the temporal location, then they may be identi- mind is substrate independent but that ex- cal to most observers for most purposes, isting organic chemistry provides the most but survival of one does not imply survival versatile basis for advanced consciousness of the other. Suppose you, as you are now and survival. according to local observation, also exist at Most of the issues that Ettinger was a great distance in space or time (either past concerned about may be resolved by the or future), just by accident. I see no reason time he will be resuscitated but it is possible for the survival of B to imply the survival that some of the issues that are at stake in of A.” (Cryonics Institute Mailing List, Septem- this debate are ultimately un-falsifiable or ber 16, 2010) even pseudo-problems. For example, how

24 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org Q4-2011 Readiness Update

By Aaron Drake, NREMT-P CCT

TSA Known Shipper Certification: On Aug. 3, 2007, President Bush signed into law the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007 (9/11 Act) P.L. 110-53 (2007), legislation requiring the Secretary of Homeland Secu- rity to establish a system to enable industry to screen 100 percent of cargo transported on passenger aircraft at a level of secu- rity commensurate with the level of secu- rity of passenger checked baggage, within three years. The impact of the 100 percent screening requirement is that all cargo must be screened at the piece level by TSA ap- proved methods prior to being loaded onto a passenger aircraft. The Known Shipper Data Manage- ment System provides a systematic ap- proach to assessing risk and determining the legitimacy of shippers by allowing TSA highly durable Airline Transportable Ice Emergency Communication to identify and approve the Known Ship- Bath. The original design was very bulky One of the fastest growing segments per status for qualified shippers located in and challenging to move around the coun- of mobile technology is location-based the U.S. try. In addition, the cost associated with services that utilize the GPS component of Alcor has completed the process to shipping just this one component of Al- your cell phone to pinpoint your location. obtain “Known Shipper” status with the cor’s response kit was a much as $600 each Many popular applications that use this fea- Transportation Security Administration. way on many airlines. By reducing both the ture include finding a lost or stolen phone, While we will still use a mortuary with size and weight of the package to make it identifying local businesses, data stamping similar status to arrange for the shipping more suitable for airline transportation, it photos, turn-by-turn directions, among a of our patients, we now have the ability to also became more manageable to handle multitude of other creative functions. ship/return our response kits through the in the field. Alcor’s Readiness Coordinator The mobile apps that address a com- airline’s cargo division to save on costs and Steve Graber designed the new unit in 3D mon concern among cryonicists are those inspection delays. This will prove beneficial CAD design software SolidWorks prior to that deal with personal safety. If you are in for both domestic and international cases. working with Randal Fry on the in-house trouble, you can notify emergency services, fabrication. or other pre-determined individuals, just We intend to continue using the cur- by pressing a button on your phone. This rent Portable Ice Bath for all of our region- action will send a distress signal with a per- al response teams. It is a very well thought sonalized message that includes your GPS/ out and fully functional product when air- Network coordinates. One such applica- line shipping is not a concern. tion, Emergency Button, can notify Alcor’s ATIB – Airline Transportable Ice Bath Our new ice bath is not only around 1/2 emergency response line—TeleMed—to Alcor staff has been busy designing the weight, but also probably about 1/8 the alert us that you have a medical emergency. and building a lighter, more compact and size when folded down for transport. By pre-programming your name and Alcor

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 25 number into the body of the text, it will medical providers to pronounce immedi- send an emergency email to TeleMed that ately, begin cooling and administer stabi- About the provides your exact location. Alcor’s De- lization medications, in the event clinical Author ployment Committee can then monitor the death occurred unexpectedly and prior to seriousness of your health and determine having a response team in place. Aaron Drake if and when a standby may be warranted. As her health began to decline in June NREMT-P, CCT, Medical Other applications, like ICE: In Case of of 2011, Alcor began to actively moni- Response Director Emergency and Emergency Life Tracker have tor her situation. Suspended Animation’s Aaron Drake is a Nationally similar actions and can be found in the An- response team was requested to provide Registered EMT-Paramedic droid Market. standby and stabilization when required. (NREMT-P) and a Certified Remember that communication is a Aaron Drake arranged for a charter flight Cardiovascular Technologist (CCT) two-way street. In order for Alcor to re- and made special arrangements with the who serves as Alcor’s Medical main vigilant with respect to monitoring local Health Department so that we could Response Director. In this position your health, we have to first learn of your call after-hours to secure a transit permit, he is responsible for the standby, medical condition in order to plan our re- to guard against needless delays in the stabilization and transport operations sponse and resources appropriately. If pos- event the Health Department’s adminis- of the Alcor Foundation. Aaron sible, notify us when you first learn of a trative office was closed for the night, or worked as a paramedic firefighter for health concern or before a pending surgi- worse, the weekend. Aaron also visited the 14 years in his hometown of Lincoln, cal procedure. As mobile technology con- home and member in mid-July, met with a Nebraska. He has served with tinues to advance, Alcor plans to embrace nearby mortuary and worked out logistical FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue these new developments to increase the details. program for emergency preparedness ease with which members can alert us of a Suspended Animation initiated a planning and has performed rescue potentially life threatening situation. standby on August 9 with at least two team and recovery efforts in response members on site at all times. On August to national disasters. Aaron holds 18, 2011, after nine days of standby, the a Bachelor of Science degree in member was pronounced at 4:12 pm. The Business Administration from the patient was cooled remarkably quickly over University of Nebraska. the first hour after cardiac arrest with the assistance of Suspended Animation’s car- diothoracic surgeon who, by all accounts, performed superbly. As the time of the pronouncement was late in the afternoon, no one was answering the phone at the Health Department, but due to the care- ful pre-planning, the private, after-hours number generated a quick response and we were able to obtain the needed documents without delay. The charter flight was set in motion; however a dust storm in Scottsdale/Phoe- nix delayed its departure—fortunately only briefly. The patient was loaded on the plane at 8:57 pm, and reached Alcor at 10:22 pm. The surgery was challenging due to exten- sive medical issues, but target cryoprotec- Alcor’s 107th Patient: tant concentration was reached in the brain. An Alcor member living in Southern Member A-2091 is now Alcor’s 107th California was diagnosed with a glioblas- patient. n toma multiforme in 2010, by far the most common and most aggressive malignant type of brain tumor. A mini-med kit was prepared and shipped to the member’s home, where she had 24-hour home health care. Arrangements were made with her

26 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org MEMBER PROFILE: Gregory Benford

By Chana de Wolf

t may come as no surprise that many Gregory’s curiosity. Since the event was cryonicists are avid science fiction fans. held at UC Riverside near the Alcor facil- IAfter all, cryonics is only necessary ity, he and fellow science fiction writer Joe because we can’t already reverse aging and Haldeman left the conference and took a cure lethal diseases, so being on board to tour. “[Alcor] impressed me with its realis- see the (possibly far-distant) future is req- tic style of doing what one can now, despite uisite. Indeed, cryonics is somewhat of a the many unknowns,” Gregory remembers. science fiction staple, and such stories have “I was about 50 and realizing how the mor- inspired a select few readers to investigate tality wall was coming up on my horizon. real-world cryonics since the very first writ- That led me to write my longest novel, ers began freezing characters as a means to closely modeled on the Alcor experience.” move futuristic plots forward. But one of That novel, Chiller, Gregory wrote those writers is a cryonicist himself, and his while immersed in the study of cryonics. name is Gregory Benford. Under pressure from his publisher, Ban- Benford, a professional research tam, it was published under the pseudonym physicist since 1967 and professor at UC ‘Sterling Blake’ in 1993 just after he had Gregory lives life passionately, Irvine since 1971, also discovered cryonics executed his arrangements with Alcor. Set with a particular zest for “the banquet of life,” hiking and traveling. through his love of science fiction, having around the UC Irvine campus and its medi- ______read some of the early classics like The Door cal school, the novel is based on Alcor and into Summer and The Age of the Pussyfoot. But well-known figures in Alcor history such leaning against us, working to ignore our he didn’t learn of Alcor until the Eaton as Mike Darwin, Saul Kent, Steve Harris, approaching demise,” he notes. “Facing it Collection annual conference on science Mike Perry, David Pizer, Hugh Hixon, Ar- demands courage. Maybe Chiller…will help fiction in 1992. The theme that year was thur McCombs, Ralph Whelan, Max More, in the struggle.” life extension and immortality in science Fred and Linda Chamberlain, Dr. Thomas Gregory may have been reading sci- fiction and fantasy—a topic which piqued Donaldson, and Jerry Leaf. “Studying the ence fiction since he was a kid and writ- odds and thinking through the grand sweep ing it since the 1960s, but it was his first of what the 21st century could bring, I saw wife’s long battle with kidney disease all that joining Alcor and getting a cryonics through the 1990s and her death due to contract seemed like a calculated gamble, cancer in 2002 that impressed him with the worth the price,” he says. “Still does.” terrible burden that death places upon hu- As a writer of “hard” science fiction mans, causing him to think about the pos- – that based on science fact and often in- sible alternatives. “What would humans be corporating his own research in plasma tur- like if not under this incessant threat?” he bulence theory and astrophysics – Gregory wondered. The answer to that question, he embraced the opportunity to write a novel determined, “was definitely worth seeking that allowed him to call attention to cryon- and cryonics is the stop-gap measure that ics and to educate readers about the real might get us there.” science behind “freezing people.” To that Understandably, recovering from Gregory participating in end, he is currently in the process of reissu- his wife’s death was very difficult, tak- discussion at the National ing Chiller under his own name with some ing Gregory through years of depression. Academy of Sciences in 2010. updating and rewriting, plus a long after- His wife had refused to be cryopreserved, ______word. “There’s an enormous social weight so he knew he would never see her again.

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 27 series “A Galactic Odyssey,” and later con- tributed to Japan 2000. He has served as scientific consultant to the NHK Network and for Star Trek: The Next Generation. His scientific contributions and awards are also numerous – importantly, his work for contributions to science and the public comprehension of it was commended by his receipt of the Lord Foundation Award in 1995. You can see what he’s up to at gregorybenford.com. Aside from his work in science and science fiction, Gregory enjoys an active life. He loves the beach in particular and has been an avid surfer for years, though he mostly prefers to body surf now. Liv- ing on the beach also allows him the op- Astrophysicist Gregory Benford, Ph.D., is an Alcor member portunity to swim every day. Additionally, and science fiction writer. He teaches physics and astronomy at the he takes great pleasure in hiking and travel University of California, Irvine. – “the banquet of life,” as he calls it. And, ______as with many members, making cryonics He thought long and hard about how to brain is well-protected by the blood-brain- arrangements has contributed to his pas- do something to improve human health and barrier (BBB), making drug delivery diffi- sionate indulgence in life. “Focusing on the extend the healthy portion of the human cult. And even therapeutic drug treatment long future made me live more intensely,” lifespan. And then he did it. ultimately cannot stop the onslaught of he acknowledges. “In 2006 I started Genescient, a firm degeneration. So far, there is no cure. This Last, but not least, Gregory wants other dedicated to extending heathspans now us- bleak state of affairs begs us to take a dif- members to know that their contributions to ing genomics, well ahead of the sluggish ferent approach. “The fact that there’s not the cryonics effort matter. “The more [cry- big pharma drug route,” he explains. “Our much you can do about neurological dis- onics] is accepted, the better our odds of first product, STEMCELL100 (http:// eases has pushed Genescient in that direc- developing a community that can carry us www.stemcell100.com), upregulates repair tion,” explains Gregory. forward into a future well beyond our de- genes in our cardiovascular system, increas- “Longevity has many approaches,” tailed imagining, but possible for us to reach. ing fitness. There are more products built stresses Gregory. “Genescient developed Let’s do it. Our lives are at stake!”  on the same strategy coming.” STEMCELL100 to gain time, because we’re all in a race with the clock.” In fact, Gregory feels that buying time to let the technology for suspension and resuscita- tion develop is the most challenging aspect of cryonics. Because resuscitation from cryopreservation is likely to be a last-in- first-out technology, he is convinced that the more time you can get now, the sooner you’ll see the future. “The later you emerge, the harder will be the adjustments to future societies.” As a science fiction author, Gregory Gregory Benford with his identical has written over twenty-five novels, includ- twin brother, Jim Benford, in 1956. ______ing Jupiter Project, Artifact, Against Infinity, Eater, and Timescape. He is a two-time win- In fact, Genescient is set to tackle the ner of the Nebula Award, and has also won biggest threat to human health of all – neu- the John W. Campbell Award, the Austra- rodegenerative disease. Brain-threatening lian Ditmar Award, and the 1990 United diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkin- Nations Medal in Literature. In 1989 he son’s are notoriously difficult to treat. The was host and scriptwriter for the television

28 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org ISAAC FROM THE OUTSIDE by Gregory Benford

For years I knew Isaac from the outside, But none I found would take a “free freeze,” through dread nightfalls and fresh daybreaks as one cryonerd told me. over the galactic empire, Ginny Heinlein said he (and she) didn’t want him seeking as a teenage kid from Alabama to come back to know a future that hung foggy, shadowed. from that dark silent cold, Till I met him and in his penthouse high saw though he was bold Shades drawn against the immensity lurking over and sure a better destiny brimmed ahead. Central Park. He would not lie in a bed against that Bradbury sipped a cool dry martini outer wall, he who deployed battle cruisers (having gotten two for Aldiss’ one) through the starlit sevagram, and was a guy and deployed the neighborhood argument: who would not fly “I’d be alone in a world I didn’t know,” in airplanes (one roller coaster was enough) forgetting that’s the way he came in. No, not tough No warm wife or daughters, maybe that way. Afraid of heights, yet he lived in a penthouse —though why couldn’t they come?— because Janet wanted to, yet fans aplenty, time-steeped in his voice, nostalgic. for the view, There up ahead beckons a life and once—only once—in a tux splashed across a bright new world, high above Manhattan’s flux and more– he backed out on the balcony vistas strange beyond the punctured metallic sky for a photo, never looking around. huge above Metropolis. Or hearing the sound So I wondered why he did not rage against of time’s sure falling. the fall of that night. Still, he saw the silky realm above, There’s much up ahead, he said, even if those city-planet dwellers of Trantor But you’ll be…dead. also feared their heavens. New Yorkers, all, Whatever the odds, Isaac (and yes, they are small), they loved their warrens. at the very worst you would lie in a sterile dry hospital Why not look further? I wondered, (bed on an inside wall, please) while you debate the Galactic Empire’s politics amid all those strained dim faces dear to you, in comfy rooms. your past peeling out behind, He would not entertain, when I brought it up, a plot outline the odd, chilly idea of cryonics. run backward. “I’ll die with my books on,” Morphine-soft air and coughing out your last, he said, “and be gone.” about to endow your Foundation, And the other dreamers: end of story, yes. crisp Heinlein, folksy Simak, Yet the cryonics techs down the hall, crusty Jack Williamson, wise Silverberg, waiting for the last notes strumming ever-young Clarke, even Fred Pohl in his rational rigor— in the back of your woozy mind all wrote of passing like sunrise rays at a still center, would give a gift: through the cold nitrogen lens to see you’d smile – landscapes beyond our gray reality. and go to that great deep release with a thin sliver of hope.

www.alcor.org Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 29 MEETINGS

About the Alcor Foundation British Columbia (Canada): The Alcor Life Extension Foundation is a nonprofit tax-exempt scientific and The contact person for meetings in the educational organization dedicated to advancing the science of cryopreservation Vancouver area is Keegan Macintosh: keegan. and promoting cryonics as a rational option. Being an Alcor member means [email protected] knowing that—should the worst happen—Alcor’s Emergency Response Team is ready to respond for you, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Oregon: The contact person for meetings in the Portland Alcor’s Emergency Response capability includes specially trained technicians and area is Chana de Wolf: chana.de.wolf@gmail. customized equipment in Arizona, northern California, southern California, and com south Florida, as well as many additional certified technicians on-call around the Washington: United States. Alcor’s Arizona facility includes a full-time staff, and the Patient The contact person for meetings in the Seattle Care Bay is personally monitored 24 hours a day. area is Regina Pancake: [email protected]

ARIZONA DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ALCOR PORTUGAL Flagstaff: Life Extension Society, Inc. is a cryonics and Alcor Portugal is working to have good Arizona without the inferno. Cryonics group life extension group with members from stabilization and transport capabilities. The in beautiful, high-altitude Flagstaff. Two-hour Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. group meets every Saturday for two hours. For drive to Alcor. Contact [email protected] Meetings are held monthly. Contact Secretary information about meetings, contact Nuno for more information. Keith Lynch at [email protected]. For Martins at [email protected]. The information on LES, see our web site at www. Alcor Portugal website is: www.alcorportugal. Scottsdale: keithlynch.net/les. com. This group meets the third Friday of each month and gatherings are hosted at a home FLORIDA TEXAS near Alcor. To RSVP, visit http://cryonics. Central Florida Life Extension group meets Dallas: meetup.com/45/. once a month in the Tampa Bay area (Tampa North Texas Cryonauts, please sign up for and St. Petersburg) for discussion and our announcements list for meetings (http:// At Alcor: socializing. The group has been active since groups.yahoo.com/group/cryonauts- Alcor Board of Directors Meetings and 2007. Email [email protected] for announce) or contact David Wallace Croft Facility Tours – Alcor business meetings are more information. at (214) 636-3790 for details of upcoming generally held on the first Saturday of every meetings. month starting at 11:00 AM MST. Guests are NEW ENGLAND welcome. Facility tours are held every Tuesday Cambridge: Austin/Central Texas: and Friday at 2:00 PM. For more information The New England regional group strives We meet at least quarterly for training, or to schedule a tour, call D’Bora Tarrant at to meet monthly in Cambridge, MA – for transport kit updates,and discussion. For (877) 462-5267 x101 or email [email protected]. information or to be added to the Alcor NE information: Steve Jackson, 512-447-7866, mailing list,please contact Bret Kulakovich at [email protected]. CALIFORNIA 617-824-8982, [email protected], Los Angeles: or on FACEBOOK via the Cryonics Special UNITED KINGDOM Alcor Southern California Meetings—For Interest Group. There is an Alcor chapter in England. For information,call Peter Voss at (310) 822-4533 information about meetings, contact Alan or e-mail him at [email protected]. Although PACIFIC NORTHWEST Sinclair at [email protected]. See the monthly meetings are not held regularly, you Cryonics Northwest holds regular meetings for web site at www.alcor-uk.org. can meet Los Angeles Alcor members by members of all cryonics organizations living in contacting Peter. the Pacific Northwest. San Francisco Bay: For information about upcoming meetings and Alcor Northern California Meetings are held events go to: http://www.cryonicsnw.org/ and quarterly in January, April, July, and October. A http://www.facebook.com/cryonics.northwest CryoFeast is held once a year. For information A Yahoo mailing list is also maintained for on Northern California meetings,call Mark cryonicists in the Pacific Northwest at http:// Galeck at (408) 245-4928 or email Mark_ tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/CryonicsNW/. [email protected].

If you are interested in hosting regular meetings in your area, contact Alcor at 877-462-5267, ext. 113. Meetings are a great way to learn about cryonics, meet others with similar interests, and introduce your friends and family to Alcor members!

30 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org What is Cryonics?

ryonics is an attempt to preserve and protect human life, not reverse death. It is the practice of using extreme cold to attempt to preserve the life of a person who can no longer be Csupported by today’s medicine. Will future medicine, including mature nanotechnology, have the ability to heal at the cellular and molecular levels? Can cryonics successfully carry the cryopreserved person forward through time, for however many decades or centuries might be necessary, until the cryopreservation process can be reversed and the person restored to full health? While cryonics may sound like science fiction, there is a basis for it in real science. The complete scientific story of cryonics is seldom told in media reports, leaving cryonics widely misunderstood. We invite you to reach your own conclusions.

How do I find out more?

he Alcor Life Extension Foundation is the world leader in cryonics research and technology. Alcor is a non-profit organization located in Scottsdale, Arizona,founded in 1972. Our website Tis one of the best sources of detailed introductory information about Alcor and cryopreservation ( www.alcor.org). We also invite you to request our FREE information package on the “Free Information” section of our website. It includes:

A fully illustrated color brochure

• A sample of our magazine

• An application for membership and brochure explaining how to join

• And more! Your free package should arrive in 1-2 weeks.(The complete package will be sent

free in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.)

Your free package should arrive in 1-2 weeks. (The complete package will be sent free in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.)

How do I enroll? Signing up for a cryopreservation is easy! Step 1: Fill out an application and submit it with your $150 application fee. Step 2: You will then be sent a set of contracts to review and sign. Step 3: Fund your cryopreservation. While most people use life insurance to fund their cryopreservation, other forms of prepayment are also accepted. Alcor’s Membership Coordinator can provide you with a list of insurance agents familiar with satisfying Alcor’s current funding requirements. Finally: After enrolling, you will wear emergency alert tags or carry a special card in your wallet. This is your confirmation that Alcor will respond immediately to an emergency call on your behalf.

Call toll-free today to start your application:

877-462-5267 ext. 132 [email protected] www.alcor.org 32 Cryonics/Fourth Quarter 2011 www.alcor.org