PUBLISHED BY THE CRYONICS INSTITUTE ISSUE 03 | 2017

Cryonics insights and information for members and friends of the Cryonics Institute NEWSLETTER

cryonics.org • [email protected] • 1 (866) 288-2796 CI BULLETIN

With that in mind, I encourage everyone to make your reservations today at the ConCorde Inn to ensure you get a room on-site for the meeting. www.concordeinns. com. I also would like to extend a personal invitation to our non-member readers to join us on September 10. If you’re intereted in Cryonics, but not yet a member, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more about CI, tour the facility, meet our leadership team and make new friends in the cryonics community.

This issue also features our roster of 2017 Board of Directors candidates. This year we have four incum- bents running for re-election (including myself) as well Dennis Kowalski - CI President as two new candidates. One of the great strengths of CI

Hello all, has always been the involvment and enthusiasm of our members, and i think this is reflected in the dedication of Summer is winding down, which means it’s almost time our member-elected Board of Directors leadership team for our 2017 Annual General Meeting. I’m especially and the individuals who choose to run for the opportu- looking forward to this year’s event, as it will be our first nity to serve CI as Board Members. As funded and con- time conducting the meeting off-site at a brand-new tracted members ourselves, each of our Directors has location. It’s also a great sign of CI’s growth and momen- tum that we have effectively outgrown our current a vested interest in making sure Ci remains a growing, facility both in terms of patient storage and the number successful and stable organization for both ourselves of attendees we can accommodate for the Annual and generations to come. Meeting. We’re growing in patients, members and atten- I’m looking forward to seeing everyone September 10. dance numbers for the AGM,, and I view these all as positive signs we’re headed in the right direction. I’m Respectfully yours, confident this new location will be a welcome change and the beginning of a new tradition at CI. Dennis Kowalski

CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS The digital newsletter of the Cryonics Institute Cryonics Institute or cryonics-related articles are 24355 Sorrentino Ct. welcome. Submissions: [email protected] Clinton Township, MI 48035-3239

Phone: 1 (586) 791-5961 Toll-free: 1 (866) 288-2796 (North America) E-SUBSCRIPTIONS FAX: 1 (586) 792-7062 * As a CI member, you are automatically added Email: [email protected] to our email reminder list. To unsubscribe, please use the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom © 2017 Cryonics Institute of your email.

2 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG CI NEWS What’s happening at the Cryonics Institute

A roundup of what’s new at CI and in the world of cryonics!

Professor Adam Higgins Announced as AGM Speaker

Associate Professor Adam Z. Higgins, who is currently conducting research for CI on organ perfusion techniques, will be a featured guest speaker at the 2017 AGM. Professor Higgins’ talk will focus on research results to date and strategies moving forward. “Development of organ perfusion strategies to reduce CPA toxicity”

We previously developed a mathematical optimization strategy for designing mini- mally toxic CPA equilibration procedures and demonstrated its effectiveness for cryo- preservation of endothelial cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. Current efforts focus on extending this optimization approach to 3D tissues and organs. In particular, we are exploring the effects of the tonicity of the CPA carrier solution during kidney perfusion. Our results show that the response of kidneys is analogous to that of iso- lated cells, suggesting that toxicity minimization strategies developed for isolated cells can be adapted to organs.

Adam Z. Higgins, Associate Professor School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering Oregon State University

For a detailed report on this research, please see this article in CI Magazine (page 18.)

3 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG CI NEWS What’s happening at the Cryonics Institute

CI-Sponsored Research Featured at Cryo2017 in Hefei, China

Ross Warner presented the organ preservation work CI helped support at the annual meeting of the International Society for Cryobiology in China July 21-23. Warner was also selected as the Society’s 2017 Critser Award winner for his submission “Examination of Toxicity Reduction During Organ Cryopreservation by Manipulating the Composition of the CPA Loading Solution” based on this research.

Warner, a PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering at Oregon State University, is a member of Professor Adam Higgins’ team of researchers who are working with CI to study improved preservation techniques. This research was also presented by Professor Higgins at the Organ Banking Summit held in Boston August 3-6.

The Critser Award is sponsored by the family of late cryobiologist and former President of the Society for Cryobiology, John K. Critser. The award recognizes the best extended abstract submission by a student and carries an honorarium of $1500 USD to attend the Society’s annual meeting.

CI will be conducting our Second Silent Auction at the 2017 AGM, allowing attendees to bid on a number of items. All mon- ies raised will be donated to the Cryonics Institute, so we’re hoping this will be a fun and rewarding addition to our Annual Meeting as well as a great way to raise donations.

The success of this project will depend in large part on the items received, so we’re actively looking for nice items for this auction. Interested individuals, companies or other sponsors who would like to participate by donating items or by helping to solicit donors can contact: [email protected]

Stephan is also looking for positive volunteers who will be attending the AGM to help with the event.

* Please see CI Magazine, Issue 1 - 2017 for the complete auction rules.

4 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG CI NEWS What’s happening at the Cryonics Institute

New French Organ Donations Law Will Impact Cryonicists: Take Action Now!

The French Parliament passed the new law on April 14th 2016, effective beginning January 1st, 2017. According to this law, all French citizens over 18 years of age are now considered consenting donors. At the time of death, before considering organ & tissue removal, medical teams will be required to check whether the deceased has claimed an opposition to the donation of organs & tissues during his or her lifetime. First of all, the medical team will ask for the consultation of the National Register of the refusals to know if the deceased is registered on it. If not, they will be required to consult surviving relatives to confirm the deceased’s prior consent.

This law could have serious ramifications for CI Members in France, so it is important they take action to help prevent an automatic, and unwanted donation. French cryonicists will need to complete the registration form of the National Register of refusals, making sure it is on record that they don’t want to donate their organs & tissues after their death. Send the completed form to 1, avenue du Stade de France, 93212 Saint-Denis La Plaine Cedex.

Nouvelle Loi en France sur le Don d’Organe.

La loi votée le 14 avril 2016 par le Parlement Français sur le don d’organes est applicable depuis le 1er Janvier 2017.

Elle fait de tous les Français majeurs des donneurs présumés consentants. Au moment du décès, avant d’envisager un prélèvement d’organes & de tissus, les équipes médicales vérifieront si la personne décédée a fait valoir de son vivant une opposition au prélèvement de ses organes & tissus. En premier lieu, l’équipe médicale demandera la con- sultation du Registre National des refus pour savoir si le défunt y est inscrit. Dans la négative, on vérifiera auprès des proches si le défunt n’a pas fait valoir de son vivant son opposition aux prélèvements de ses tissus & de ses organes à son décès. Bref, que doivent faire les cryonicistes français(e)s ? Et bien ils doivent remplir le formulaire d’inscription du Registre National des refus, ce qui signifie qu’ils ne souhaitent pas donner leurs organes & tissus après leur mort et envoyer par la poste (Courrier Recommandé) le formulaire à 1 avenue du Stade de France, 93212 Saint-Denis La Plaine Cedex. (J.R.M.)

5 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG Get the world’s premier publication on prolonging youth & longevity for one year absolutely FREE! MKAQAV170207

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MKAQAV170207_Long Life_ MarchApril_Ad2.indd 1 4/24/17 3:15 PM Hong Kong-1 Hong Kong-1 Hong Kong-1 Hong Kong-1 Japan-4 Japan-4 Japan-4 Japan-4 TOTAL Singapore-3 Singapore-3 Singapore-3 Singapore-3 1,766 New Zealand-1 New Zealand-1 New Zealand-1 New Zealand-1 Australia-57 Australia-57 Australia-57 Australia-57 China-3 China-3 China-3 China-3 Russia-2 Russia-2 Russia-2 Russia-2 India - 2 India - 2 India - 2 India - 2 Liechtenstein -1 Liechtenstein -1 Liechtenstein -1 Liechtenstein -1 Pets ...... 142 DNA/Tissue...... 254 SA ...... 222 Romania-3 Romania-3 Romania-3 Romania-3 Turkey-1 Turkey-1 Turkey-1 Turkey-1 Israel-1 Israel-1 Israel-1 Israel-1 Hungary-1 Hungary-1 Hungary-1 Hungary-1 Austria-2 Austria-2 Austria-2 Austria-2 Czech Republic-3 Czech Republic-3 Czech Republic-3 Czech Republic-3 Poland-8 Poland-8 Poland-8 Greece-13 Greece-13 Greece-13 Poland-8 Greece-13 Switzerland-2 Switzerland-2 Switzerland-2 Switzerland-2 Lithuania-1 Lithuania-1 Lithuania-1 Lithuania-1 Sweden-7 Sweden-7 Sweden-7 Sweden-7 Croatia-1 Croatia-1 Croatia-1 Croatia-1 Norway-7 Norway-7 Norway-7 Norway-7 Malta-1 Malta-1 Malta-1 Malta-1 Italy-9 Italy-9 Italy-9 Italy-9 Denmark-2 Denmark-2 Denmark-2 Denmark-2 Members ...... 1,424 Assoc. Members ...... 185 Patients...... 157 Netherlands-13 Netherlands-13 Netherlands-13 Netherlands-13 Belgium-10 Belgium-10 Belgium-10 Belgium-10 UK-96 UK-96 UK-96 UK-96 Portugal-4 Portugal-4 Portugal-4 Spain-14 Spain-14 Spain-14 Portugal-4 Spain-14 France-14 France-14 France-14 France-14 Scotland- 2 Scotland- 2 Scotland- 2 Ireland-3 Ireland-3 Ireland-3 Scotland- 2 Ireland-3 British Isles-2 British Isles-2 British Isles-2 British Isles-2 Germany-48 Germany-48 Germany-48 Germany-48 Brazil-3 Brazil-3 Brazil-3 Brazil-3 Luxembourg - 1 Luxembourg - 1 Luxembourg - 1 Luxembourg - 1 Argentina-1 Argentina-1 Argentina-1 Argentina-1 Aruba-2 Aruba-2 Aruba-2 Aruba-2 AUGUST 2017 AUGUST Chile-1 Chile-1 Chile-1 Chile-1 Canada-69 Canada-69 Canada-69 Costa Rica-1 Costa Rica-1 Costa Rica-1 Canada-69 Costa Rica-1 United States-997 United States-997 Mexico-2 Mexico-2 Mexico-2 Mexico-2 New Members New Country

CI MEMBERSHIP 7 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG Czech Republic Czech 3 Denmark 2 1 Egypt 14 France Germany 48 the 2 Ghana members – Lost france to moved gained 2 12 Greece Hong 1 Kong Hungary 1 India 1 3 Ireland 1 Israel Italy 9 Japan 4 1 Liechtenstein Lithuania 1 1 Luxembourg gained 1 Malta 1 2 Mexico Netherlands 13 1 Zealand New Norway 7 8 Poland 5 Portugal Romania 3 2 Russia 2 Scotland 3 Singapore 14 Spain 7 Sweden gained 1 2 Switzerland 0 – member moved Thailand 1 Turkey gained 1 UK 99 USA 997 gained 13 Annual General Meeting Sunday, Sept. 10 The annual meeting offers an excellent opportunity to see the facility, 3:00 p.m. learn more about cryonics, meet members and guests from around the world, get updates on the Cryonics Institute & Immortalist Society and to talk to Officers, Directors & Staff.

The Annual General Meeting usually lasts about 2 hours, featuring reports from CI Board Members, guest speakers and a few other sur- prises. The Immortalist Society Meeting will follow directly after the CI AGM, and typically lasts about 45 minutes.

CI will be providing light snacks and beverages at the meeting, but MEETING: no formal dinner arrangements. Guests are invited to dine prior to the Sept. 10 3:00pm meeting or, preferably, socializing with new friends and associates ConCorde Inn Hotel & Conference Center after the meeting concludes. The ConCorde Inn has a restaurant on- 44315 North Gratiot Avenue site, and there are several excellent dining locations nearby. Clinton Township, (Michigan) 48036 (USA) Location H Please note, the 2017 AGM will be hosted at the ConCorde Inn in Clinton Township, MI, not at the CI Facility.

The ConCorde features an impressive meeting room, an outdoor seating area adjacent to the hall, plus a lounge, pool & fitness cen- Everyone is ter and other amenities we’re sure every- one will enjoy. Rooms at the ConCorde Welcome! Inn are on a first-come, first-served basis, Our meeting is open so please make your reservations now. to the general public, so feel free to bring a http://www.concordeinns.com. guest or join us yourself FACILITY TOURS if you’re not a member! Sept. 10 12:00-2:00pm Facility Tours Cryonics Institute Facility Tours of the CI facility will be available prior to 24355 Sorrentino Court the meeting from approximately 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 Clinton Township, MI 48035-3239 p.m. on Sunday. The facility will be closed to both members and the general public outside of these scheduled times, so if you would like to visit, please plan accordingly. Night Before Dinner and Social CI will be hosting a “Night Before” Social and Dinner event at 6pm on Saturday, September 9 at Sajo’s Restaurant. Everyone is welcome, but please remember, guests are responsible for their own checks.

SAJO’S.net

36470 Moravian Clinton Twp, MI 48035 RSVP NIGHT BEFORE SOCIAL CI’s AGM is open to the general public, but we request that we be Sept. 9 6:00-10:00pm informed if you will be attending. For driving directions, more meeting Sajo’s Restaurant information and to confirm attendance, send email to [email protected] 36470 Moravian or phone (586) 791-5961. Clinton Township., MI 48035

8 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG 2017 Elections The Cryonics Institue is a member run organization, elect- ing our leadership positions from among our member- ship. Board Members serve three-year terms, with four positions up for election each year on a rotating basis. Board positions are open to Voting Members only. To qualify as a Voting Member of the Cryonics Institute a CI Member must be age 18 or over and either be a Lifetime Member or have been a Yearly Member for at least three years. Additionally, only CI Members with an executed Cryonic Suspension Agreement and having full funding for the Cryonic Suspension Agreement may be Voting Members.

Voting members should have received their ballots via mail by this magazine’s publication date, or shortly there- after accounting for International Postal delivery times.

Ballots are to be counted on September 10, prior to the CI Annual General Meeting. Registered votes not received at CI Headquarters prior to the official ballot- counting time and date (8:00 a.m on September 10, 2017,) are at risk of not being counted, so please return your election votes as soon as possible after you receive them. Because of the timing, we do not encourage mem- bers to bring their ballots with them to submit in person at the meeting, but prefer to have them mailed back in advance. Please return your ballot as soon as possible and avoid the risk of missing your opportunity to vote. .

9 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG STEPHAN BEAUREGARD Hi, I’m happy to run for my re-election as a Director of this great organization. I presently serve as the Director that deals with Communications & Social Media.

I’m 48 years old & I have been interested in cryonics since 1993. I did several public relations activities for CI & I intend to do more. I did also many interviews about cryonics. I’m in touch with our President practically everyday to give him advice & suggestions to try to improve CI. I convinced & helped many persons to get signed up. I found willing people to help my fellow cryonicists. I also translated CI documents & Cryonics videos for more widespread understanding for those in countries other than the USA. As I promised, I set up a partnership in Canada (pick up the patient, ice bath, perfusion with CI-VM-1 & shipment to CI). No matter your country, you will be able to have me to help & defend our organization. If you want a friendly Director who likes working as a team, with family values, leader- ship, a positive outlook, clear goals with real results for CI & 110% loyal, vote (4) me. Thanks / Merci / Danke [email protected]

BLAKE DELANEY Blake Delaney was educated in biochemistry and computer application development. His profes- sional career includes corporate programming and investment management. He and his wife are lifetime CI members. Blake is a volunteer in the cryonics community, especially in the area of emer- gency preparedness. He works with our current president in efforts to improve the statistical risks and returns of CI’s investment holdings.

His goals for the Cryonics Institute include: 1) Maintain beneficial investment profiles so that CI can continue its financial health while keeping our lower member prices. 2) Encourage controlled growth, including expanding membership counts and geographic reach to improve high-speed emergency response. 3) Maintaining CI’s core services with high reliability and redundancy. and 4) Staying abreast of scientific or technological advancements that could help with CIs primary mission.

“I would be honored to have your vote, and serve as a director. CI fulfills an essential role in the ad- vancement of human life extension.”

[email protected]

STEVE LUYCKX Steve Luyckx was born in Detroit, Michigan, the fifth of six children. He graduated from Michigan State in 1986 with a BA in Logistics and a Masters degree in Finance a few years later. His professional career includes Kraft Foods, Chrysler/Daimler Financial and in 2009 became the President of a joint venture between ADP and Reynolds. He first became interested in Cryonics when a neighbor friend who was an important influence in his life introduced the topic. He has been one of the longest de- voted board members dating back over 20 years and has attended every annual meeting since 1988. [email protected] • cell phone number 248 840 3936:

10 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG DENNIS KOWALSKI Dennis Kowalski is a Fire Fighter and a Nationally Registered EMT-Paramedic (NREMT-P). He is certi- fied in advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), advanced pediatric life support (PALS), and as a AHA CPR Instructor. He also teaches emergency medicine to other emergency responders. His experience in emergency services has made him a vital asset as a CI director and he is eager to share what he has learned as a bridge between conventional emergency medicine and cryonics. Dennis’s goals are to see positive growth and stability in CI membership. He’d like to see local support groups formed to promote unity, education and faster cryonics response. He is currently serving as CI’s President and has overseen many positive changes, including a revised CI website and social media channels, the new Standby Kit and manual, coordinating the annual AGM, member outreach, public and media re- lations, CI Magazine, membership growth initiatives, negotiations with international organizations on behalf of CI, cost-savings measures, investment growth strategies, an updated members-only forum, facility and operational improvements and more. If you like the direction Dennis has taken CI to date, please vote to reelect him. [email protected]

DIRK NEMITZ Dirk is a 39-year-old German, but has also lived, worked and studied in Benin (West Africa), Costa Rica, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway and the US. His background is in forestry/biology and with further training in digital marketing. He currently works for an international organization on sustain- able forestry and reducing tropical deforestation to keep our planet green and livable for our long and prosperous future.

Dirk signed up with the Cryonics Institute in 2007 and has been volunteering vividly for cryonics in Germany ever since. As a CI director he would aim to contribute to: (1) strengthening standby and field cryopreservation through testing and feedback, also from the German/European perspective; (2) enhancing options for interaction among interested members, including through online meet- ings; (3) professionalizing CI’s social media outreach strategy and updating the CI website (e.g. en- suring that all information is up-to-date).

Physical mailing address: Dirk Nemitz, Neuenhofer Str. 52, 53773 Hennef, Germany Email address: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dirknemitz.de Webpage: www.dirknemitz.de

ANDREW ZAWACKI I have worked for the Cryonics Institute for more than thirty two years. At the Cryonics Institute facility I am in charge of the day to day operations, patient suspensions, patient care and member services. I have served as a director of the Cryonics Institute for nine years and I also serve as the corporate secretary. [email protected]

11 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG Revival Breakthrough?

Potentially groundbreaking news for the cryonics commu- developed through extensive research and ongoing refine- nity appeared in a recent article published by the journal ments. ACS Nano. Scientists may have taken what has been hailed Standard thawing methods were unsuccessful in initial as a significant step toward conclusively answering one of tests. The researchers write “[The] large size of the yolk still the most critical questions, (and most frequent criticism) of impedes rapid cooling and warming, thereby yielding lethal cryonics with a successful cryogenically-preserved speci- ice crystal formation during cryopreservation.” Even with men reanimation test. vitrification protections in place, if the defrosting process is In the article “Gold Nanorod Induced Warming of Embryos too slow, a process called devitrification can occur, where from the Cryogenic State Enhances Viability” researchers the vitrified fluids “[reverts] from glass to ice.” reported successfully reanimating frozen zebrafish embryos The solution was to speed up the thawing process. from cryogenic temperatures. Zebrafish embryos have been According to the paper, “Here we address this zebrafish used as specimens for this type of research for decades, but cryopreservation problem by using gold nanorods (GNRs)

until today familiar problems, chiefly the destructive forma- to assist in the warming process. Specifically, we microin- tion of ice crystals during the thawing process, have sty- jected the cryoprotectant propylene glycol into zebrafish mied progress. For this particular test, the researchers made embryos along with GNRs, and the samples were cooled at a critical adjustment to the process: faster thawing via the a rate of 90 000 °C/min in liquid nitrogen. We demonstrated introduction of conductive particles to help speed heating. the ability to unfreeze the zebrafish rapidly (1.4 × 107 °C/ min) by irradiating the sample with a 1064 nm laser pulse The scientists conducting the experiment prepared the for 1 ms due to the excitation of GNRs. This rapid warming embryos in advance using standard vitrification procedures process led to the outrunning of ice formation, which can - replacing the blood and other major fluids with a vitrifica- damage the embryos.” tion solution designed to resist freezing and the formation of ice crystals that can rupture cells and damage tissues. This The zebrafish embryos that had been frozen (however, only is a critical stage in the cryonics process, and CI similarly for a short time) were rapidly thawed with this technique. vitrifies patients before cooling using our CI VM1 solution, Upon their return to normal temperatures, approximately

12 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG 10 percent of those embryos survived the process and served tissues. If we can achieve these limited results with continued to develop normally for the next 24 hours before our current technology, logically we will be able to do even expiring. more as that technology advances. This also helps support the viability of the core thesis of cryonics - that frozen organ- These results may not seem particularly encouraging, how- isms can, in fact, be revived with the proper combination of ever they have the potential to be an important first step to freezing and thawing techniques. ultimately discovering the key to successful suspension and reanimation. It is also encouraging to consider how this Admittedly, these results are a long way from reanimating new research can be applied in combination with work CI the complex brain and organ structures of a human body, and others are doing to refine and further perfect both the but they are an encouraging start. Positive results, even freezing process and vitrification solutions. with the limited success of this experiment, focus attention on the fundamental concept of cryonics and help bring our Although researchers have had limited success in the past message to a wider mainstream audience. This test may with individual cells or tissues, this experiment marks the not be the complete proof-positive revival skeptics need to first time a more complex organism has been successfully accept cryonics, but for the wider majority of people, even revived from cryogenic suspension. These results point out a limited success at achieving “life after death” through cry- that currently-available technologies, applied in the right onic suspension is sure to excite the imagination. way can potentially be used to revive cryogenically pre-

How to cryopreserve fish embryos and bring them back to life (video) - Headline Science

13 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG Standby Notebook Essential tips to prepare for your supension

Worst mistakes in Cryonics #4: Not Planning

Many think cryonics is a turnkey service where once you sign up your worries are over and everything proceeds like clockwork without any additional input or effort on their part.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. A successful Cryonics Suspension requires effort and planning on the member’s part, particularly in regard to contracts, payment arrangements and local Standby Preparation and planning.

No matter how much you pay for cryonics you are the only one who can make sure that you will have the best chance by planning and preparing in advance to avoid potentially fatal delays in the actual Standby and suspension process when the time comes.

CI provides a wealth of information on our website and in our standby manuals to help you with this process. Those who plan succeed - those who don’t fail.

In an emergency Call 1-586-791-5961 Immediately!

For more information: http://www.cryonics.org/emergency-situations/

14 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG Who will be there for YOU?

Don’t wait to make your plans. Your life may depend on it.

Suspended Animation fields teams of specially trained cardio-thoracic surgeons, cardiac perfusionists and other medical professionals with state-of-the-art equipment to provide stabilization care for Cryonics Institute members in the continental U.S. Cryonics Institute members can contract with Suspended Animation for comprehensive standby, stabilization and transport services using life insurance or other payment options.

Speak to a nurse today about how to sign up. Call 1-949-482-2150

or email [email protected] MKMCAD160205 21 6

605.83A SuspendAnim_Ad_1115.indd 1 11/12/15 4:42 PM Worldwide Cryonics Groups AUSTRALIA: The Cryonics Association of Australasia FINLAND: The Finnish Cryonics Society, (KRYOFIN) is offers support and information for Australia & nearby countries. a new organization that will be working closely with KrioRus. [email protected]. Their Public Relations Officer is Philip Rhoades. They would like to hear from fellow cryonicists. Contact them at: [email protected] GPO Box 3411, Sydney, NSW 2001 Australia. Phone: +6128001 6204 (office) or +61 2 99226979 (home.) kryoniikka.fi Their President is Antti Peltonen.

BELGIUM: Cryonics Belgium is an organisation that exists FRANCE: SOCIETE CRYONICS DE FRANCE is a non to inform interested parties and, if desired, can assist with han- dling the paperwork for a cryonic suspension. The website can be profit French organization working closely with European cryonics found at www.cryonicsbelgium.com. To get in touch, please send groups. For more information: J.Roland Missionnier: phone: 33 (0) an email to [email protected]. 6 64 90 98 41 or email: [email protected] BHUTAN: Can help Cryonics Institute Members who need help for the transport & hospital explanation about the GERMANY: There are a number of Cryonicists in cryonics procedure to the Dr and authorities in Thimphou & Paro. Contacts : Jamyang Palden & Tenzin Rabgay / Emails : Germany. Their Organization is called “Deutsche Gesellschaft für [email protected] or [email protected] Phones : Jamyang Angewandte Biostase e.V.”, or short “DGAB”. More information / 975-2-32-66-50 & Tenzin / 975-2-77-21-01-87 on their homepage at www.biostase.de. If there are further ques- CANADA: This is a very active group that participated in Toronto’s first cryopreservation. President, Christine Gaspar; Vice tions, contact their Board at [email protected]. President, Gary Tripp. Visit them at: http://www.cryocdn.org/. There is a subgroup called the Toronto Local Group. Meeting INDIA: Can help Cryonics Institute Members who need dates and other conversations are held via the Yahoo group. This help for the transport & hospital explication about the cryon- is a closed group. To join write: [email protected] ics procedure to the Dr and authority in Bangalore & Vellore QUEBEC: Contact: Stephan Beauregard, C.I. Director & Official Administrator of the Cryonics Institute Facebook Page. Area. Contacts : Br Sankeerth & Bioster Vignesh / Email : Information about Cryonics & perfusion services in Montreal [email protected] Phones : Bioster / 918148049058 for all cryonicicts. Services available in French & English: [email protected] & Br Sankeerth / 917795115939 ITALY: The Italian Cryonics Group (inside the Life Extension SPAIN: The Spanish cryonics group in Sociedad Crionica Research Group (LIFEXT Research Group)) www.lifext.org and www.sociedad-crionica.org. The president is Dr. Lluis Estrada. relative forum: forum.lifext.org. The founder is Bruno Lenzi, This is a large group of people, and those interested in cryonics contact him at [email protected] or Giovanni Ranzo at: are welcome to contact them at [email protected]. [email protected] SWEDEN: www.kryonik.se.com or Facebook: Svenska JAPAN: Hikaru Midorikawa is President Japan Cryonics Kryonikföreningen. Initially, the society will focus on providing Association. Formed in 1998, our goals are to disseminate cryon- information and assistance to those who wish to sign up for cry- ics information in Japan, to provide cryonics services in Japan, onics. Eventually, we also hope to provide practical assistance in and eventually, to allow cryonics to take root in the Japanese soci- cases, possibly in collaboration with other European groups. ety. Contact [email protected] or http://www.cryonics.jp/ SWITZERLAND: NEPAL: Can help Cryonics Institute Members who need help www.CryonicsSwitzerland.com or www.ria.edu/cs for the transport & hospital explanation about the cryonics pro- CRYOSUISSE The Swiss Society for Cryonics. cedure to the Dr and authorities in Kathmandu. Contact : Suresh cryosuisse.ch To join, email [email protected] K. Shrestha / Email : [email protected] Phone : 977-985- 1071364 / PO Box 14480 Kathmandu. UNITED KINGDOM: Cryonics UK is a nonprofit UK based standby group. www.cryonics-uk.org Cryonics The Dutch Cryonics Organization NETHERLANDS: UK can be contacted via the following people: Tim Gibson: (http://www.cryonisme.nl) is the local standby group and wel- phone: 07905 371495, email: [email protected]. comes new enthusiasts. Contact Secretary Japie Hoekstra at Victoria Stevens: phone: 01287 669201, +31(0)653213893 or email: [email protected] email: [email protected]. Graham Hipkiss: phone: * Can help Cryonics Institute Members who need help, funeral 0115 8492179 / 07752 251 564, email: ghipkiss@hotmail. home, transport & hospital explication about the cryonics proce- com. Alan Sinclair: phone: 01273 587 660 / 07719 820715, dure to the Dr and authority at Amsterdam with branches in other email: [email protected] cities. Contact : Koos Van Daalen / Phone (24 Hours) +31-20- Can help Cryonics Institute Members who need help, funeral 646-0606 or +31-70-345-4810 home, transport at London. Contact : F.A. Albin & Sons / Arthur NORWAY : Can help Cryonics Institute Members who need Stanley House Phone : 020-7237-3637 help for the transport & hospital explication about the cryonics INTERNATIONAL: The Cryonics Society is a global procedure to the Dr, funeral home and authority at Sandvika. cryonics advocacy organization. www.CryonicsSociety.org. They Contacts : Gunnar Hammersmark Sandvika Begegravelsesbyraa publish an e-newsletter FutureNews. Phone: 1-585-643-1167. / Phones : 011-47-2279-7736 RUSSIA: KrioRus is a Russian cryonics organization operating in Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe that exists to help arrange cryo- preservation and longterm suspension locally, or with CI or Alcor. Please contact kriorus@mail.ru or [email protected] for additional information or visit http://www.kriorus.ru. Phone: 79057680457

HELP US STAY UP-TO-DATE! JOIN A CRYONICS GROUP!

If you live in one of the countries listed, The Cryonics Institute encourages mem- we’d appreciate of you would please take bers to join, or form, local cryonics standby, a moment to contact the groups listed in support and social groups. If you’re inter- your country to confirm their details. Also, ested in joining or forming a group of your if you know of, or are considering starting a own, please check upcoming issues of the support, standby or other cryonics-related CI Newsletter to learn more about CI’s new group in your area, please send details to Cryonics Groups program.. [email protected]. CRYONICS Science, Technology and NEWS Medicine for Cryonics

First human embryo editing experiment in U.S. ‘corrects’ gene for heart condition Scientists have successfully edited the DNA of human embryos to erase a heritable heart condition that is known for causing sudden death in young competitive athletes, cracking open the doors to a controversial new era in medicine. This is the first time gene editing on human embryos has been conducted in the United States. Researchers said in interviews this week that they consider their work very basic. The embryos were allowed to grow for only a few days, and there was never any intention to implant them to create a pregnancy. But they also acknowledged that they will continue to move forward with the science, with the ultimate goal of being able to “correct” disease-causing genes in embryos that will develop into babies. READ THE FULL STORY AT WASHINGTONPOST.COM

A living programmable biocomputing device based on RNA Can sense and analyze multiple complex signals in living cells for future synthetic diagnostics and therapeutics Synthetic biologists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and associates have developed a living programmable “ribocomputing” device based on networks of precisely designed, self-assembling synthetic RNAs (ribonucleic acid). The RNAs can sense multiple biosignals and make logical decisions to control protein production with high precision. As reported in Nature, the synthetic biological circuits could be used to produce drugs, fine chemicals, and biofuels or detect disease-causing agents and release therapeutic molecules inside the body. The low-cost diagnostic technologies may even lead to nanomachines capable of hunting down cancer cells or switching off aberrant genes. READ THE FULL STORY AT KURZWEILAI.NET

Neural stem cells steered by electric fields can repair brain damage Electric fields can be used to guide transplanted human neural stem cells — cells that can develop into various brain tissues — to repair brain damage in specific areas of the brain, scientists at the University of California, Davis have discovered. It’s well known that electric fields can locally guide wound healing. Damaged tissues generate weak electric fields, and research by UC Davis Professor Min Zhao at the School of Medicine’s Institute for Regenerative Cures has previously shown how these electric fields can attract cells into wounds to heal them. READ THE FULL STORY AT KURZWEILAI.NET

18 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG CRYONICS NEWS

Drinking coffee associated with lower risk of death from all causes, study finds People who drink around three cups of coffee a day may live longer than non-coffee drinkers, a landmark study has found. The findings — published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine — come from the largest study of its kind, in which scientists analyzed data from more than half a million people across 10 European countries to explore the effect of coffee consumption on risk of mortality. READ THE FULL STORY AT KURZWEILAI.NET

‘Mind reading’ technology identifies complex thoughts, using machine learning and fMRI CMU aims to map all types of knowledge in the brain By combining machine-learning algorithms with fMRI brain imaging technology, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) scientists have discovered, in essense, how to “read minds.” The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to view how the brain encodes various thoughts (based on blood-flow patterns in the brain). They discovered that the mind’s building blocks for constructing complex thoughts are formed, not by words, but by specific combinations of the brain’s various sub-systems. READ THE FULL STORY AT KURZWEILAI.NET

Scientists Prove That Cryogenically Frozen Life Can Be Reanimated Zebrafish can do it. Are humans next? To survive the 90-year-long journey between Earth and the far-off planet Homestead II, humans on the ship in the 2016 sci-fi bomb Passengers were cryogenically frozen, suspending them in the throes of youth. The assumption is that thawing will bring their bodies and minds back to their normal, living states, and then life will resume where it left off. It’s wishful thinking: While scientists have figured out how to thaw and unthaw individual cells, whether it’s possible to reanimate life has remained a mystery. But a new discovery puts them well on their way to finding out. READ THE FULL STORY AT INVERSE.COM

19 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG Membership Benefits Why join the Cryonics Institute?

1) Cryonic Preservation 7) Funding Programs Membership qualifies you to arrange and fund a vitrification Cryopreservation with CI can be funded through life (anti-crystallization) perfusion and cooling upon legal insurance policies issued in the USA or other countries. death, followed by long-term storage in liquid nitrogen. Prepayment and other options for funding are also available Instead of certain death, you and your loved ones could to CI members. have a chance at rejuvenated, healthy physical revival. 8) Cutting-Edge Cryonics Information 2) Affordable Cryopreservation Members have access to both the Cryonics Institute The Cryonics Institute (CI) offers full-body cryopreservation Newsletter and Long Life Magazine online, as well as our for as little as $28,000. Facebook page, an official members-only forum (coming soon) and more. 3) Affordable Membership Become a Lifetime Member for a one-time payment of only 9) Additional Preservation Services $1,250, with no dues to pay. Or join as a Yearly Member with CI offers a sampling kit, shipping and long-term liquid a $75 inititation fee and dues of just $120 per year, payable nitrogen storage of tissues and DNA from members, their by check, credit card or PayPal. families or pets for just $98. 4) Lower Prices for Spouses and Children 10) Support Education and Research The cost of a Lifetime Membership for a spouse of a Membership fees help CI to fund important cryonics Lifetime Member is half-price and minor children of a research and public outreach, education and information Lifetime Member receive membership free of charge. programs to advance the science of cryonics. 5) Quality of Treatment 11) Member Ownership and Control CI employed a Ph.D level cryobiologist to develop CI-VM-1, CI Members are the ultimate authority in the organization CI’s vitrification mixture which can help prevent crystalline and own all CI assets. They elect the Board of Directors, formation at cryogenic temperatures. from whom are chosen our officers. CI members also can change the Bylaws of the organization (except for 6) Locally-Trained Funeral Directors corporate purposes). CI’s use of Locally-Trained Funeral Directors means that our members can get knowledgeable, licensed care. Or The choice is clear: Irreversible physical death, dissolution members can arrange for professional cryonics standby and and decay, or the possibility of a vibrant and joyful renewed transport by subcontracting with Suspended Animation, life. Don’t you want that chance for yourself, your spouse, Inc. parents and children?

CI is the world’s leading non-profit cryonics organization, bringing state-of- the-art cryonic suspensions to the public at the most affordable price. CI was founded in 1976 by the “father of cryonics,” Robert C.W. Ettinger as a means to preserve life at liquid nitrogen temperatures. As the future unveils newer and more sophisticated medical nanotechnology, it is our hope that the people preserved by CI may be restored to youth and health.

To get started, contact us at: (586) 791-5961 • email: [email protected] Visit us online at www.cryonics.org Member Readiness Checklist You’ve signed up for cryonics - what are the next steps? Welcome Aboard! You have taken the first critical step in preparing for the future and possibly ensur- ing your own survival. Now what should you do? People often ask “What can I do to make sure I have an optimal suspension?” Here’s a checklist of important steps to consider.

 Become a fully funded member through life insurance or easy pre-payments

Some members use term life and invest or pay off the difference at regular intervals. Some use whole life or just prepay the costs outright. You have to decide what is best for you, but it is best to act sooner rather then later as insurance prices tend to rise as you get older and some people become uninsurable because of unforeseen health issues. You may even consider making CI the owner of your life insurance policy.

 Keep CI informed on a regular basis about your health status or address changes. Make sure your CI paperwork and funding are always up to date. CI cannot help you if we do not know you need help.

 Keep your family and friends up to date on your wishes to be cryopreserved. Being reclusive about cryonics can be costly and cause catastrophic results.

 Keep your doctor, lawyer, and funeral director up to date on your wishes to be cryopreserved. The right approach to the right professionals can be an asset.

 Prepare and execute a Living Will and Power of Attorney for Health Care that reflects your cryonics- related wishes. Make sure that CI is updated at regular intervals as well.

 Consider joining or forming a local standby group to support your cryonics wishes. This may be one of the most important decisions you can make after you are fully funded. As they say-”Failing to plan is planning to fail”.

 Always wear your cryonics bracelet or necklace identifying your wishes should you become incapacitated. Keep a wallet card as well. If you aren’t around people who support your wishes and you can’t speak for yourself a medical bracelet can help save you.

 Get involved! If you can, donate time and money. Cryonics is not a turnkey operation. Pay attention and look for further tips and advice to make both your personal arrangements and cryonics as a whole a success.

 Keep up to date! Read CI Magazine and follow the simple “STANDBY WORKBOOK” exercise in each issue.

21 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG FREE Memberships?!! Did you know the Cryonics Institute offers FREE LIFETIME Memberships CRYONICS for minor children of paid Lifetime QUESTIONS? Members? Any minor children (under the age of 18) of fully-paid Need some help with Lifetime Members are eligible for a your membership? permanent Lifetime Membership of Want to understand your their own. If you’d like to give your suspension options? children the priceless gift of a second chance of life with you in the future, Need to fill out important please contact us at 1 (586) 791-5961 cryonics paperwork? and ask about Lifetime Membership Benefits. CONTACT US! Our team is here to help. 1-(586) 791-5961 CI Standby Kits

Letters Welcome One of our goals for the CI Newsletter is to provide a forum for member out- reach and opinion in addition to the existing online forums. If you have CI offers pre-made Standby Kits complete with comments to share, feel free to write all required equipment and detailed instructions. us at [email protected]. We These kits are perfect for an individual or a group may introduce a letters column if planning local standby support. response is favorable, so if you do Basic and Intermediate kits are available for sale write, please indicate if your letter is approved for publication or not. now. To purchase a kit, please contact us at: [email protected] CI Reading Room Serializing essential works on cryonics

R.C.W. ETTINGER MAN INTO SUPERMAN After immortality...... comes transhumanity. And OUR generation can be part of it.

Robert C.W. Ettinger’s ”Man into Superman” Part 10

23 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG 10 Copouts and Dropouts: The Threat of Immortality

Because of lack of interest, tomor- by Professor G. J. Gruman--do not promise any- row has been cancelled. thing, but only point out that a real chance exists, -Anonymous and this may be part of the trouble: we are not ra- bid enough. Even so, there is in one sense noth- What fools these mortals be! ing to lose by freezing after death--at worst, you -Puck will merely remain dead--and it might be thought that many a rich man, at least, would bet part of Today Shakespeare might have Puck say, “What his estate on a chance at a long and fascinating fu- fools they be, who choose mortality!” This fool- ture life. In fact, there were alarmed predictions ishness remains nearly universal; almost everyone that the project would instigate countless swindles, rejects his chance of extended life, as well as his with hysterical millionaires showering money on chance to become superhuman, for reasons we freezer salesmen and with sick people changing shall now discuss further, with some naming of their wills in favor of anyone who held out any names. hope, however slim, of cheating death. “Die now, pay later” was seen as a potent lure for the suckers. Certainly I am not pessimistic about the success of Please Kick the Tires the cryonics revolution. Human stupidity is formi- dable, but not invincible, and sooner or later most Nothing even remotely like this has happened, for of us will set our sights on immortality and trans- a variety of reasons, almost all of them psychologi- humanity. Patients who have “died” will be rou- cal rather than logical. In one large class of resist- tinely stored in coolers or freezers to await help. ers, the diagnosis is plain: they are rigid because Only a few would-be martyrs will insist on their they are frigid; their minds are frozen by fear. They right to rot. The nastiest four-letter words in the are, sometimes literally, scared to death. What is it language will be “melt” and “thaw”, and the vilest they fear? epithet will be “mother- melter”. In a sense, they fear the prize itself: immortality, or The trouble is “sooner or later” may not be soon indefinitely extended life, and its concomitant, the enough for many of us, and despite a great deal outgrowing of our humanity. They see this not as of activity of many kinds, the actual score in fro- an opportunity, but as a threat. The threat is mainly zen patients is far from impressive. In 1971, seven to their peace of mind, and this can seem fearsome years after publication of The Prospect of Immor- indeed. tality, the score in the United States seems to be roughly: Grave, 14,000,000--Freezer, 14. Ordinary people are often frankly petrified by the prospect of the great journey: they won’t buy our Most peculiar! Somebody must be crazy. Even if vehicle, or even kick the tires, but simply announce the idea were pure crackpot, it should have had after profound thought lasting in some cases for as more success than that. People can be found to much as a minute and a half, that they intend to go try yoga, vegetarianism, astrology, naturopathy, or when their “time comes.” almost anything else that promises more or better life. To be sure, the proponents of LTA--low tem- To such, one is tempted to give a snotty answer. perature anabiosis or latent life, a term suggested Goodbye. So drop dead already. We’ll try to get

24 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG along without you. You have a right to rot. You’ll intent. Through history he has been the host, the soon be rotten and forgotten. Good; that will leave standard-bearer of man’s aspiration to become im- more room for the rest of us. We’ll give your re- mortal and divine.... (The) habit of doubt creates gards to Broadway. It’s a free country. Suit yourself. habitual reservations about entering fully into any Who needs you? emotional life that might be possible--because in the end there is death. And unfortunately a nega- But of course these aren’t real answers, only expres- tive reflex comes into being; that the only way to sions of irritation. We certainly have a moral duty hold off death is to refuse to jump into the life that to try to persuade these people: for being a little leads to it. If you don’t buy death you may refuse to slow, the death penalty is somewhat severe. More buy life.... Purchasing eternal life has become in- than that, we do need them. If the cryonics pro- creasingly common in our supposedly enlightened gram is to be efficient--if the cost is to be within the time. This is done, for example, by starting a foun- reach of all, and if help is to be quickly avail- able at dation and giving it your name. ... All mass-action, every place and time--then it must be a large scale for good or ill, gives members of the crowd an illu- project. We do not need everybody, or even a ma- sion of being immortal and vaguely god-like.... The jority, but we do need substantial numbers. devout Chinese Communist. running around and waving his little red book of Mao’s aphorisms, may The illogic and shabby psychological defense appear psychotic to me. Yet he is less conscious of mechanisms so often observed in the man in the death than I am, closer to ‘the All’, much farther street are displayed a trifle less blatantly by the in- from death and less afraid of it, safer, and secure telligentsia, who frequently outsmart themselves from cosmic anxiety.... To be sure, his arguments in rather slick and plausible-sounding ways. It will are often weak and loose. Surely he goes far beyond be worth our while to mention a few by name, and the evidence when be asserts that the “’problem of I hope they will forgive me for being used as hor- alienation’ . . . derives from a single cause: the fear rible examples. Their usefulness lies in the very of aging and death . . . feelings of isolation; aggres- fact that they are brilliant men--if they can err so sive behavior toward one another; massive para- grossly, then the average man need not be ashamed noia, and the common inability to believe, com- of his own obtuseness and can change his mind mit, or care--derives, going back to the beginning, without humiliation. Let us begin with the least from a single cause . . the fear of aging and death.” extreme example. Again, his phrasing of the goal seems ill chosen- Alan Harrington -to become “divine,” “deities,” “gods.” This phrasing brings unpleasant and inaccurate connotations, Writer Alan Harrington is not one of life’s drop- such as a desire for worshippers and a static uto- outs, not one of the apologists of death; on the pia. This last, especially, is astonishingly shallow contrary, his book, The Immortalist, is built on the and short-sighted. theme that “Death is an imposition on the human race, and no longer acceptable .” (69) Yet after this Harrington visualizes a “utopia beyond time,” an brave beginning, after many flourishes and gallant “immortalist state” in which we--or our descen- aphorisms, he emerges a copout; he appears to be dants--will be periodically roused from sleep or not an immortalist, but only a talkative dilettante. hibernation to “pursue lost dreams and careers, becoming doctor, space explorer, artist, athlete, Incredible! Consider, first, how deftly he dissects scientist--fleshing out in free play all of the myths the old myths, how shrewdly he pulls the scabs that have ever occurred to mankind. . . .” off our psychoses: The disguised message in the Tower of Babel story is that if we get together and What a dwarfed and puny vision! Essentially, Har- talk in one language we can erect a structure that rington seems to see a future not much different will reach heaven-in other words, become gods from the present, except bigger and better--eternal ourselves and attain immortality.... We created the variations on the same old themes. This is not only Devil to express our most radical and dangerous unrealistic but uninspiring, playing into the hands

25 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG of the thoughtless who say they wouldn’t want “an- rial body, many of whose molecules are transient other time around.” anyhow.” (99) Someone who loves him should take him gently by the hand and tell him, The worst, however, is that finally Harrington’s “Dear Joshua, it is not a question of ‘infi- nerve fails him. He acknowledges, “The frozen cas- nite effort,’ which is impossible in any case ket does hold out a faint promise, and currently the and was doubtless just an unscientific slip only promise of survival.” But his ultimate conclu- of your scientific tongue, but of moderate ef- sion is that “. . . members of the transitional gen- fort; and your poor material body, of which erations will almost surely not live to experience I am quite fond, transient molecules and the immortal state (but) ... through our efforts we all, is almost certain to break down long honor the human species by helping to turn it into before you solve the profound and subtle the divine species. We may fairly consider our- riddle of identity, thus assuring that you selves the heroes and heroines of the evolutionary never will know the answer, and leaving process. . . .” me desolate besides. There is always time to choose death, but you have very little time What a splendid conclusion! Our descendants will to choose life. Please choose life, while you conquer aging: this is news? We will find solace in still can; then we shall see.” the nobility of martyrdom: this is different? It is nothing more than the same old humanist copout, Such men as Professor Lederberg may not be the same sick delusions that Harrington himself manifestly frightened of the future, not obviously has gone to so much trouble to debunk. What it intimidated by the magnitude of the immediate amounts to, then, is that Harrington is just anoth- personal challenge; what I would ungenerously er “futurist,” someone who enjoys mental games, describe as paralysis would be seen by many as talking about the future with no intention of par- an understandable dubiety, a prudent hesitation, ticipating. He shares, in the end, the common pa- indeed a virtuous sense of cautious responsibility. ralysis of will. But it all comes to the same thing, in the end, and his end will soon come. Or so it would appear from reading The Immor- talist. In mid-1970 the grapevine had it that Har- Furthermore, one begins to understand a little rington had become actively involved at least on more the actual reasons for opposition, in listening the fringes of cryonics. Perhaps he will turn out to to those who feel they must do more than shake be an immortalist after all. their heads and mumble, who feel obliged to offer “positive” reasons for negativism. Joshua Lederberg Isaac Asimov If the universe has no malice, neither has it mercy; it accepts no excuses, and a miss is as good as a Dr. Isaac Asimov is a very well-known writer of mile. The rarest genius has but to take one mis- popular science and science fiction, formerly a bio- step in New York City traffic, and the universe will chemist at Boston University, a man of prodigious judge him incompetent and sentence him to death. knowledge and towering IQ, who has spoken and written about the cryonics program several times. Joshua Lederberg, a Nobel prize winner, is a pro- In a magazine article early in 1967 he allowed as fessor of biology at California Institute of Technol- how: (1) no one would want to live more than five ogy. Despite his acknowledged genius, Professor cen- turies at most because by then he would be Lederberg appears a little too confused to survive. bored to death; (2) greatly extended life (through freezing or other means) would petrify society Pondering the puzzle of identity, of the nature of because it would perpetuate in positions of influ- soul or self, he has written,’ “The whole issue of ence a bunch of old dogs who can’t learn new tricks self-identification needs scientific reexamination and who have already contributed whatever their before we apply infinite effort to preserve a mate- potential included; and (3) even our species must

26 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG die eventually, but that’s all right if the evolution- other hand, despite popular notions, it is far from ary process is allowed to produce a new and better clear that old age, even Dow, necessarily causes a species first. “Surely, if the species must die, let it decline in adaptability and creativity) But this is die while leaving behind a greater species that can just another problem in our bulging bag; we may take up more effectively the eternal struggle with solve it, or we may not--but why give up in ad- darkness, and stride to the kind of victories we vance? Why surrender before we are beaten? Why can’t even imagine. Properly viewed, such a death sacrifice our lives, and those in our families, just is no death at all, but another step toward the only because one or another problem may prove insur- worthwhile immortality--that of life and intelli- mountable? gence in the abstract.” Since all these weaknesses in Dr. Asimov’s argu- How wonderful! “Properly viewed,” says be, death ments must be obvious to a mind as sharp as his, is not death. This man apparently would die hap- I conclude that his real reasons for opposition are py--almost any time, one supposes--if only he not the ones be adduces. What some of these real could be assured that, a billion years from now on reasons may be, we can begin to guess by consider- a planet of Antares, a race of giant spiders would ing one of the more extreme reactions to the cry- discover a way to spin more beautiful webs. Can he onics proposal. really mean it? Russell Kirk And consider the blandness of the implication that, since we would grow bored within five cen- Russell Kirk is an educator, writer and well-known turies anyhow, we may as well die now, or at the commentator on a wide variety of subjects. That be end of our “natural” term, especially since we are is politically and religiously conservative is not the only barnacles on the ship of state. By my arith- point; plenty of right-wingers are friendly to cryon- metic, five centuries is considerably more than 75- ics, and many left-wingers icy. But the vehemence odd years, even if I agreed that life would be bor- of his reaction exposes rather plainly the nature of ing beyond 500 years; in fact, the difference is 425 the threat many people feel, and the workings of years, and I say, vive la difference. Can Asimov be their defense mechanisms. so weak in computation? In a syndicated article, “The Iceman Cometh,” he Furthermore, the very notion of boredom within attempted to dissect the mentality of the “Shake- a few centuries is absurd, even for a human, let speare-hater” and roast the abominable iceman. alone a superman, given health, wealth and op- (94) To prove the insanity of cryonic interment he portunity. There are endless avenues of exploration quotes a minor passage from The Prospect of Im- and achievement, even in a world like the present. mortality: “I am convinced that in a few hundred Normal curiosity and appreciation could scarcely years the works of Shakespeare, for example, will be exhausted in a mere 500 years. interest us no more than the grunting of swine in a wallow. (Shakespeare scholars, along with cen- Finally, and most puzzling, he has implicitly taken sors, snuff grinders and wig makers will have to a stand of the most rigid conservatism on the ques- find new, perhaps unimaginable occupations.) tion of individual improbability. If we, in our adult Not only will his work be far too weak in intellect persons, can by various techniques be changed and and written in too vague and puny a language, but improved in the course of time to become not just the problems which concerned him will be, in the immortal, but immortal supermen, then obviously main, no more than historical curiosities. Neither the questions of boredom and mental stagnation greed, nor lust, nor ambition will in that society do not arise; and there are many indications that have any recognizable similarity to the qualities this improvement will be possible. It is true that we know. With the virtually unlimited resources of nothing is guaranteed, and the senile rigidity prob- that era, all ordinary wants will be readily satisfied, lem may indeed be a tough nut, conceivably harder either by supplying them or removing them in the to crack than that of physical immortality. (On the mind of the individual . . . competitive drives, in

27 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG the interpersonal sense, may or may not persist; nient, and also (for some people) a bit nasty; and but if they do, it will be in radically modified form.” it is scarcely conceivable that mother-love should hinge on it, since father-love does not. (Not so long Kirk then comments: “What a charming prospect! ago, self-appointed defenders of traditional “hu- Thawed out after some years or centuries of cryo- manity” complained bitterly about the wrongness genic interment, we shall be as gods, for Science of using anaesthesia in childbirth.) In any case, if I will have remedied all ills . . . thinking machines am wrong on this small point--or if my view is the will perform all the work ... motherhood will have wrong one for some individuals--then I will stand been abolished--good riddance to bad rubbish--by corrected; but I will be corrected by relevant infor- ectogenesis.... And how very happy and very dif- mation, and not by some vague feeling of loyalty to ferent we defrosted survivors from quasi-Shake- an outworn tradition. spearean savagery will be! . . . Mr. Ettinger, in fine, smilingly advocates what C. S. Lewis called ‘the The Nervous Nellies also feel that God is threat- abolition of man.’ . . . How very tidy would be the ened, or that their own notion of God is threat- future world of cryogenic interment and resurrec- ened. Indefinite life seems to dim the luster of tion! How very untidy, how nastily human Shake- Heaven and pale the fires of Hell; the audacity of speare is! Blow, 0 blow, ye winter winds: freezing’s the would-be superman seems to say to the ice- the way to dehumanized Elysium.” cubes, with insupportable condescension, “Your Kingdom of God was indeed a noble vision of Uto- We need not belabor the non sequitur aspects of pia--but we intend to seek beyond Utopia.” Kirk’s arguments, e.g., that I am a “Shakespeare hater” merely be- cause I predict that man, if he The Gulfs of Fear survives, will become superman and naturally out- grow all current literature; or the hilarious notion And here again we really have it; once more we that my predictions about the future should affect name it, the chill blast that penetrates to bone: it Kirk’s decision on attempting to extend his life. Of is agoraphobia. This is what the little people are more concern is the psychopathology which cher- afraid of--the vast black spaces, the mysterious ishes the “untidy” and the “nastily human,” which open reaches, the vertiginous depths. wants to perpetuate weakness, vice, suffering, and stupidity because without them we would be “de- Hardly anyone has tried to look into these spaces, humanized.” these reaches, these depths. Almost all our proph- ets, in this the dim dawn of the race, have been There is nothing especially mysterious about it, of concerned with beating back the jungle to protect course: essentially, Mr. Kirk is already frozen--fro- the garden, not with building the city. Virtually zen in his convictions, frozen in his world-view-- every visualized Utopia has been a mere negation and being frozen is brittle and vulnerable. While of vice and not an affirmation of aspiration in any I have not actually attacked Mother, God, or The positive sense. But when sickness and sin are cast Flag, I have made it plain enough that I do not hold out, when everyone is filled with loving-kindness, them sacrosanct, but regard them (like everything when men walk in universal affluent brotherhood- else) as subject to continuous reappraisal and im- -what then? provement; this raises the hackles of ice-cubical people as a conditioned response. Then comes our real task, the continuing explo- ration, exploitation and transformation of the in- Hard as their heads may be, I feel some hope that, ternal and external universe. The achievement of if we belt them repeatedly with the crude club of a planetary Great Society is only getting the ves- logic, perhaps we can pound in some sense. Why, sel ship-shape and seaworthy; the voyage is yet to for example, should anyone object that “mother- come. And small wonder it is that many shrink and hood will have been abolished” in the sense that shudder before the prospect of this voyage, over gestation will be in an artificial womb? To “carry” seas not only uncharted and certainly dangerous and bear a child is uncomfortable and inconve- but possibly endless. This is what is so frightening-

28 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG -the casting loose, the abandonment of moorings. Against Predatory Capitalism, is only a minor epi- sode in the Long View? If you dare tell a man that Most of us by early maturity have wrestled with his crusade is little, this seems to imply that he is angels and devils--if I may change the meta- less than little, he is nothing. How does a man face phor again--and finally established some kind the fact that he has given his heart and soul to a of shaky truce; the horrors, dangers and myster- side issue? Imaging trying to interest Herbert Mar- ies of the universe have been shudderingly faced, cuse or George Wallace in the cryonics program! and a creaky modus vivendi developed, a tolerable world-view constructed. This world-view, however Related to these problems is the threat the pros- grotesque and rickety, may be the individual’s most pect of immortality brings to one’s ideas of his own precious possession, and he may strike like a snake “usefulness.” Many people have such deep feelings or run like a rabbit if it is threatened. It is a sad syn- of insecurity, worthlessness, and timidity that they drome, easily understandable in retrospect, even if cringe from any idea that they may be other than not fully appreciated in ad- vance. The demolition ants in a hill, good little helpers in some Great De- of one’s world-view can entail many terrible things. sign. They feel safe only as toilers in the vineyard, At the least, it may mean a wrenchingly difficult re- working pluckily and loyally for Humanity or Pos- adjustment, an “agonizing reappraisal;” but it is not terity or The State or some other absurd or distort- only a matter of effort and inconvenience. Other ed phantasm. kinds of menace are also involved. And this prepares us to state, more clearly and ex- One of these is the stab of “betrayal.” The prover- plicitly, the character of the principal threat, the bial woman scorned” is hellishly furious because reason we fear the gulfs. It is this: the prospect of her offering was belittled and her trust misplaced; becoming an immortal superman deprecates every naked and tender she proffered herself, only to be work, ideology, and manner of life as uncertain, left cold, bewildered, and alone. Being ignomini- unfinished and unsatisfactory, and hence imposes ously dumped seems to prove, she thinks, either the nearly intolerable burden of total responsi- that she is worthless or that her former love ob- bility. Decision-making is the hardest and most ject is villainous--a pitiful dilemma. In a somewhat nerve-wracking kind of work, and most of us will similar way, one may feel betrayed and besmirched do almost anything to avoid its necessity. Many of if his painfully established convictions and com- us settle the large questions, and “solve” the prob- mitments are called in question. if you attack a lem of personal survival and meaning, by self-ab- man’s most cherished beliefs, you are attacking negation, by the tacit admission that institutions him, and he may have no effective recourse other and ideas are more important then self. While this than a blind frenzy of counter-attack or a sullen admission forfeits much--even life itself--it also withdrawal. gains much, viz., the calm of surrender, the luxury of rest, the relief from responsibility and the delu- A slightly different aspect of the threat is the poten- sion of virtue. A creed or a cause bestows the com- tial loss of status, the diminution of the values that fort that one’s actions are of limited importance: may have informed one’s life and of the achieve- the individual may fail, but he will have done his ments on which one would like to rest. Who wants bit and others will carry on and the cause will tri- to be told, at a comfortable and respected age, that umph; to put forth the last ounce of personal effort he must get out of his armchair and take up a new is heroic but unnecessary. and perhaps endless apprenticeship, that his ac- complishments are not substantial and finished Every potential immortal, on the other hand, must but trifling and preliminary? How can a Success- take Harry Truman’s famous reminder for his own: ful Businessman or an Eminent Statesman admit the buck stops here. that be is only beginning life and has yet to find and prove himself? How can a dedicated partisan Reactions and Crises acknowledge that Racial justice, or the Crusade Against Godless Communism, or the Revolution The reactionaries, in their muddled thinking, cher-

29 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG ish a delusion as dangerous as it is pathetic, viz., The depth and pity of his predicament may per- that somehow by rejecting biological improvement haps be seen a bit more clearly by analogy with a and extended life for themselves, by choosing hu- case once presented to one of the newspaper agony manity and mortality for their families, they can columns--Dear Abby or Ann Landers. A woman stay the tide of history and assure the perpetuation wrote about her problem with her husband, who of their quaint and squalid little world. The danger wanted normal married love while she--although, lies in their reaction when it gradually dawns on she said, she loved her husband in other ways- them that they are only consigning themselves to -regarded sexual intimacy as disgusting and de- oblivion in what is a quite needless and thankless grading. Her question was only how to persuade sacrifice, that their descendants will neither emu- her husband to demand less; she did not want to late nor admire them. What will be their dismay, change herself. Given the premise, this was logi- what their fury, when they perceive that they have cal; could one of us, if assured that homo- sexual- cast themselves on the rubbish-heap of history, ity, say, or drug addiction was pleasurable, want to that they will soon be one with Australopithecus! become a homosexual or addict? It is impossible to demand of someone that he deliberately alter In particular, a major crisis of history may occur emotional attitudes that are close to the core of his when it becomes unmistakably clear that Homo personality. Superior is being born, and perhaps officiating at his own delivery. Any or all of four events will sig- At least, it is impossible if the demand is direct and nal this condition: (1) fully perfected freezing and sudden; but if the approach is subtle and gradual, thawing methods will make revival of the dead a something can be done. There is nothing subtle virtual certainty and not just a debatable possibil- about my approach, but its gradualness has been ity; (2) new medicines or techniques will greatly excessive, and unless things are speeded up the sig- extend the maximum life span; (3) genetic engi- nal of emergent superman may trigger a paroxysm neering will allow great improvement of succeed- of destruction. ing generations; (4) new medicines or techniques will permit substantial improvement of normal, What form this destruction might take is hard to living, mature individuals. say. It might be simply an explosion of the smol- dering East-West controversy--because of plans Quite possibly these events will be so well heralded in the East to breed or build super-soldiers; or just that they will be almost anticlimactic, with nearly because totalitarian regimes could not afford to al- everyone prepared and eager; this, of course, is low their people immortality. Or it might be mul- my hope and a reason for my writing. But one or tiple civil wars between New and Old. Or, without more of them could just possibly occur suddenly much bloodshed, it might be a ruthless clamping and very soon, perhaps provoking an hysteria of down on all progress, resulting in a universal fro- reaction among the lovers of the “nastily human,” zen totalitarianism approaching those of the social a frenzied effort by the agoraphobes to drag us all insects. back into the cave to avoid the view of the vaulting sky, a murderous and suicidal spasm of hate and The foregoing picture, of course, has been painted terror. in deliberately dark shades of gray; the outlook is not quite that bad. The freezer program has begun The fearful man will be faced with a bewildering and is progressing (see Chapter 11 for a report of and maddening prospect: his mythos a dead let- the current situation). The survival instinct, while ter, his creed a curiosity, his God a superstition, in most practical situations less potent a motiva- his institutions relics, his community a backwater, tion than social pressure or simple laziness, does his ideas irrelevant, his power evaporated, his in- yet exert some influence. Familial love, while weak fluence attenuated, his presence only tolerated, his and scarce enough to justify cynicism, can still person shamefully debilitated. With what insane betimes provide a mighty driving force. And the despair might not such a one lash out! cryogenic and biological revolution, terrible threat to some though it be, will probably take place so

30 CRYONICS INSTITUTE MAGAZINE • CRYONICS.ORG gradually and so well within the framework of ex- isting laws and institutions that effective opposi- tion will be impossible.

Nevertheless, there exists the possibility of public crisis, and the certainty of private crisis. In plan- ning to meet these crises, it is already late.

NEXT ISSUE: Part 11 - ”Cryonics and the New Meliorism”

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