ISSN 0964-5659

LONGEVITY REPORT 97

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Volume 17 no 97. First published March 2004. ISSN 0964-5659.

Local Help

by Robert Ettinger Ettinger@aol.com

Here is a bit about The Cryonics Institute (CI) and local help for members at a distance, where at least some people seem to have persistent misunderstandings.

First, there is no simple, quick, convenient, turn-key, one-size-fits-all system for your arrangements. The basic CI contract says that our responsibility begins when the patient is delivered to us, and this is the understanding for the minimum suspension fee of $28,000. Naturally, members at a distance will also need local help and transportation, and this must be arranged and funded. There are various options, depending on location and circumstances, and somebody has to figure it out and put it in place. In particular, the duties of the local mortician and any possible local volunteers must be spelled out and preparations made, including training and equipment as indicated.

It is more convenient for the member if the local and transport costs can be included in the suspension fee guaranteed to CI, typically through life insurance, so we offer a Local Help Rider along with the Cryonic Suspension Agreement for those who want it. CI then pays the local mortician when the patient has been shipped, according to the terms of the Rider.

The duties assumed by the local mortician, and the price, will vary and require negotiation, perhaps among several parties--the member, CI, perhaps other members in the vicinity, perhaps local volunteers, possibly other cryonics organizations, and the mortician. Finding a willing mortician close enough is usually not difficult, but may take some time.

The whole process will take time and demand attention from our staff, which costs money. Therefore we cannot--as many prospective members would like--get everything neatly lined up to the prospective member's satisfaction before he joins. He must join first, and then we will work with the member and do our best, within our resources and as promptly as feasible, to get all the arrangements in place. If at any point the member is dissatisfied, he can always cancel the contract, if he has one, but cannot recover his membership fee (or dues in the case of an Option Two member).

How local volunteers fit in is highly variable. In England there is a well organized and equipped and trained volunteer group, centered on the initiative of Alan Sinclair (now on the CI Board of Directors) and others. But even this group--let alone others much weaker--cannot represent themselves as agents of CI, for obvious reasons of legal liability. Any involvement of volunteers must be informal from the point of view of CI. The members who plan to use the group, and the group itself, must see to their own legal protection and make their own judgments as to what is useful and safe. In particular, care must be taken not to get crossed wires between the volunteers and the local mortician.

Members and prospective members must avoid the "us-them" attitude, that "we" (the members) are customers and "they" (CI) are vendors. CI is not a business in the usual sense, and its members are not customers in the usual sense. Obviously this is one of the reasons for the slow growth of cryonics--that it isn't easy, simple, or cheap. We are trying to make it easier, and in some respects simpler, and at least relatively cheaper, but it won't happen overnight. There is no free lunch. Unless you are rich enough to hire people to do the scut work for you, you will have to put up with inconveniences and tiresome chores.

But you are dealing with chores and inconveniences every day anyway on many levels. At a minimum, you have to run a household with its constant problems and maintenance--it's just the cost of living. With cryonics, you have a chance for a whale of a lot more living with only a moderate dose of inconvenience.

Libertarianism, Cryonics, Religion

by Mike Perry < mike@alcor.org >

Recent exchanges on libertarianism inspired the following, with an additional boost from some remarks on religion. I begin with some issues that seemed to call for further, brief comment, then move on to tie in libertarianism with cryonics and immortalism (albeit in a somewhat limited way). Finally I address the subject of religion, with some thoughts on why a scientific version may be both feasible and desirable at this point, and some tentative suggestions of how I intend to proceed with such a project.

The point seems well-established that no libertarian system has been tried and shown itself able to stand on its own and out-compete alternatives. I argued that the failure of libertarianism to take firmer hold has deep roots in human nature, including the fact that people exist, in some measure, to perpetuate their genes rather than being motivated by more rational self-interest. (It's the genes, we could say, that motivate their hosts to do what is "rational" from the genes' point of view.) Some think of the system in place in the days of the Founding Fathers as much closer to a libertarian system than today's U.S. governmental apparatus and in certain important ways they are right, particularly as regards the federal government-though it was still not fully libertarian. They see the historical trend, though, if I understand it right, as being one of a steady erosion of individual freedoms and usurpation of authority, which may culminate in a complete totalitarian system. The federal government, it is true, has tremendously increased its powers and control over the past two centuries, and this may seem to reflect an unstoppable trend toward full totalitarianism. But I think that, if you consider the system as a whole, which means government on all its levels, there are strong countervailing tendencies. In 1790, for instance, women couldn't vote and blacks could be owned as property. These things were not mandated in the Constitution but were not forbidden either, and did exist as an accepted part of the total system.

As our history unfolded, people demanded the abolition of slavery and the enfranchisement of women, and these reforms took place. In some other ways you can see progressive reforms, such as the elimination of "blue" laws against working on religious holidays, outlawing of racial segregation, and the recent Supreme Court decision banning laws against private sexual acts between consenting adults. Other reforms are possible too, of course, depending on what the people feel is right and proper and try to see enacted via their power to vote. (And we have seen reforms in some other countries too, most notably in the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Europe and its ongoing accommodations with capitalism elsewhere.) This brings us to the present.

Today we have better opportunities for both good and bad than ever before. The bad possibilities should not be overlooked, but here I will focus on the good ones, from an immortalist perspective. Mainly, we could transform society into something that has never existed, and which bears comparison with some of the religious concepts of heaven. We could eliminate diseases and aging as well as poverty and even stupidity and the need for employment as we now understand it (working at a job you would not choose if independently wealthy).

Reforms on this level, though, would require, among other things, modifying the basic human organism. Some fearful pessimists realize this could really happen and is perhaps even starting already. They would impose legislative measures to bring it to a stop before it goes very far. Their fear of the possible down-sides exceeds any appreciation of the possible benefits. It seems that they would recognize the present human species as a kind of "person" in its own right, and an entity with a right to exist surpassing that of the individuals who now comprise that very species but who might voluntarily abandon it under foreseeable circumstances. So they would impose restrictions on an individual's right to choose, for instance, a treatment to eliminate aging, and the physical means to otherwise improve one's body and/or mind, were such to be developed. They fear that allowing this sort of thing would result in something other than homo sapiens populating the planet after a period of time. Cryonics has attracted some, if limited, notice from this group too. Predictably there has been some negative reaction, and we can expect more, since cryonics could serve as a stepping stone to an existence other than human, and in any case is offensive in its intended purpose of permitting an escape from the normal attrition of aging. (So far I think cryonics is mostly dismissed on grounds that it has no serious chance of working anyway, but that could change if there were more appreciation of the scientific case for cryonics, particularly with some new preservation protocols.)

The fears of these people, I think, are well founded-the possibilities really do threaten the biological homo sapiens. The threat exists through the free, voluntary choices of individuals who could decide to opt out of what they would perceive as a biological strait-jacket. As immortalists, of course, we demand the right to choose, should the option present itself. Ultimately, that body of ours must be found wanting, if for no other reason, because it is running down and in time will run no more, unless something is done. We are not concerned about the "needs of the species" if said needs require our physical sacrifice. Some powerful guarantees of our freedom of choice would thus be in order. It is unfortunate that such libertarian thinking as Mill's principle was not firmly embedded in our legal framework; it would serve us well. All is not lost, though; as one ray of hope, the Declaration of Independence (not a part of U.S. law but still widely respected) recognizes the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You could use it to justify a person's right to choose to have his aging process reversed, with extension to other improvements. If such procedures were available there should be widespread support, which should be helped by this historic precedent. (I also think the respect for freedom to date in the U.S., even if it stops short of full libertarianism, has helped keep cryonics legal, given that the public is not particularly interested in it and is even somewhat repelled.) So the ayes would probably outshout the background noises of any holdout luddites. But now we have to confront the fact that the proven procedures are not in place, and the nay-sayers are making their bid to try to forestall the very possibility.

Ironically, they could win, and the consequence could be the destruction of the very species they are trying to save - or perhaps the lesser calamity of a new and lengthy, technophobic dark age. Such could be the outcome if we don't achieve liberation from our present human form, as a consequence of the resulting stagnation and frustration. Imagine a steady-state homo sapiens culture, with individuals dying as usual and new ones being born who would have to relearn everything from square zero to keep the system going. Life would become more or less a zero-sum game (as it was until relatively recent times), with a constant struggle between haves and have-nots. It could, among other things, make a good breeding ground for terrorists of many different stripes and gripes, some of them, it may be presumed, having considerable brilliance along with the traditional fanatical hatred. Sooner or later, one misguided group or lone individual could wreak horrible damage, if some rogue nation didn't do it first. But along with that would surely be a scientific, constructivist underground which would be trying to topple the system in a very different and more hopeful way, that is to say, provide the means for individuals to escape the dreary birth-death cycle and become something more than human.

I doubt if matters will come to the point of a worldwide ban on good science, however. If it did come to that in the West, national rivalries in other parts of the world, Asia, and yes, the Middle East too, would kick in, and you'd see more of the good progress happening there. Our backward bailiwick might then sense it was being left in the dust, undo its repressive policies, and get moving again. In any case, the prospects for the biological homo sapiens don't look good, and we aren't likely to see the steady state for very long, if at all. We should be grateful that at least one of the alternatives, the path to something higher, is both possible and gaining support.

We wonder what we can and should be doing to further the good alternative, and particularly, make it happen for us. Cryonics is an obvious choice -- the life-extending technologies are not here yet, and this offers our best chance of persisting physically until they will be. Beyond that, we can talk and otherwise communicate about our choice of cryonics, and try to support the important work with our resources allocated as seems fit. I will not deal with this difficult subject in any generality here. But I will mention one approach that is sometimes suggested and other times cautioned against: religion. Religion has been a powerful force in human society up to now, and in particular has served to legitimize and honor the deep wish felt by humans through the ages to be something more than human. True, traditional religions have proposed and promised means of achieving this that are not exactly the scientific and technological approach we transhumanists are now advocating. But we can make the point that here the end really is more important than the means, then try for something more: to meet the religionists on something approaching their own turf.

To do this, we have to think of religion in a different way from those who dismiss it as "fantasies about spirits" or insist it must involve belief in the supernatural. If you think instead of religion as a process of attempting to meaningfully engage with what is of transcendent or ultimate significance, the possibility of a rational, scientific religion gains plausibility, at least if we can centre our attention on what is, in fact, of truly deep, beyond-human-level significance. But of course this is just what we immortalists are doing with our attempts to overcome death scientifically, something we know must become a never-ending quest and take us to rather distant reaches of knowable reality if it is to continue. Something along the lines of an immortalist religion has been attempted with Venturism, http://www.venturist.org but I sense the need for something deeper. This I think would fit within the Venturist umbrella - and that's what Venturism is, an umbrella movement within which other cryonics-endorsing movements could find shelter without being in total agreement. What I am proposing, though, would not be an umbrella movement, but a religious enterprise with more specific content - it would, of course, not be acceptable to everyone who may find the "umbrella" congenial, an inevitable tradeoff.

Tentatively, I propose to name the new movement Aionism after the Greek _aion_, "eternal." It is to be based on my book, Forever for All , but to more directly address the special concerns of religion, and itself be called and considered a religion. Aionism would posit no supernatural entity or presence, but would recognize an Ordering Principle or Way of Things, which is manifest in everything from mathematics to the world of our experience. A kind of Dao, then - and Aionism would be a scientific Daoism. It would provide a rather generous eschatology for humans - and other sentient beings too - eventual resurrection in some meaningful form, and eternal happiness, but no guarantee that the path thereto will be smooth or swift - which means that one's choices and behavior will definitely make a difference. (In particular, choosing cryonics will arguably "smooth the path," a subject explored in the book. More generally, though, Aionism would advocate the highest moral standards and consideration for all that is right and good, insofar as these things can be ascertained.) The path of one's existence, though, has special significance, progress and growth in an appropriate sense being important, with no final state ever being reached.

Well, I said this will not be for everyone, but we can ask if such a project would help our cause overall more than hurt. I think it would, even though it could inspire a backlash from traditional religionists who might be especially offended by it. But they in turn have to live with each other who have different persuasions. And a movement that truly advocates what is right and good, as Aionism is to be, must inspire some favorable response from the many in traditional religions who also favor these things. So my guess would be that with proper presentation Aionism would be accepted at least as another kind of religion, again, a variant of Daoism, with special emphasis on science on one hand, and individual salvation and immortality on the other, which implies that each individual is something rather special. I think it could, in particular, serve as a means of clarifying and legitimizing in some skeptical minds what it is we really want with our "tampering with nature." For we are seeking the loftiest and noblest goals imaginable, and yet they are things humans have long dreamed of and sought after. It's just that we think we've found a new and better way to approach these goals, one that is more rooted in the reality that scientific evidence reveals.

Looked at from the Aionist perspective, then, the human race is a great start but not an end-in-itself or final goal. It must be nurtured carefully, like a growing child, not stunted, to find a proper destiny beyond its present level.

Survival Instinct - Extinct

by Robert Ettinger < ettinger@aol.com >

Some still wonder why cryonics is a hard sell, but the answer has been obvious for a long time. The so-called "survival instinct" just doesn't exist any more, for most people most of the time, in the circumstances of modern life. This was reiterated in today's posts by Mark Plus regarding an interview with Brian Alexander, reinforcing what I have said before concerning many others, including Isaac Asimov, Fred Pohl, and Arthur Clarke.

Almost anyone will exert himself to dodge a taxi or a tiger, but if the danger is not clear and present, then, for most people most of the time, it just isn't a major concern. And in today's world, clear and present dangers are rare. Very few people die of murder, or even war or terrorism. Auto and industrial accidents kill scores of thousands in the US every year, but the threat is merely statistical and shrugged off. Health concerns are taken somewhat seriously by many, but it took decades to make a dent in smoking practices. Even eating habits are affected mostly by the fear of looking unattractive, not by fear of death. And for the sick and elderly, the prospect of death is not especially fearsome, and may even be welcome.

People mentioned in the Alexander interview were FOR life extension, and did NOT think cryonics necessarily a very long shot--but STILL rejected it. The motivation just isn't there for most people. The bio-research life-extenders are not motivated by fear of death or even love of life, but just by an intellectual toy and career possibilities.

Conclusion? Forget about "marketing" or magic bullets. There will be a psychological sea change at some point, but we can't predict it or jump-start it, and we should not waste time or energy or money on over-ambitious public relations projects.

There is still a great deal we can do. We can keep on doing what we have done, with incremental improvements in all aspects of our operations. We can work patiently among our own families and circles of friends. The main thing is to do your best to save yourself and those close to you.

Ideas That Don't Work

by Charles Platt <other@platt.us>

Every so often, someone suggests that we should approach millionaires for sponsorship for cryonics projects. A little study of cryonics history might be helpful.

Bob Ettinger tried to find support for The Prospect of Immortality by doing a mailing to names chosen from Who's Who in America. This was - what, fifty years ago? The response was not encouraging. Of course this could be tried again, and it's a task that one person could certainly tackle on his own.

Don Laughlin, founder of the town of Laughlin, Nevada, is an Alcor member and has made no secret of this. He is said to be worth about half-a-billion dollars. I have seen various attempts to get him to donate or invest in cryonics- related initiatives, and I think $10,000 was the most he ever contributed. And he believes in cryonics.

I was at an alternate-energy conference several years ago where a lot of highly speculative proposals were discussed, i.e. wacky ideas that almost certainly wouldn't work. I spoke to a man who was coordinating investment in research, using funds from a consortium of investors that he had set up. When I described the need for investing in cryonics-related research, he was dismissive. "It's much too far fetched," he said. "I could never raise any capital for that."

Ask Saul Kent some time about the lack of response for investing in anti-aging research that looks as if it has an excellent chance of working.

Again and again I see participants in CryoNet urging other people to do what seems obvious. For reasons that I can never understand, no one pauses to think that if it seems obvious, someone else has probably tried it.

In 1992, CryoCare Foundation tried to obtain tax-exempt status as a cemetery organization (not a cemetery; a cemetery association). Since CryoCare was merely an administrative organization, it would not have incurred any regulatory burden restricting the treatments applied to patients. Courtney Smith pursued this through the accounting company Ernst and Young. Ultimately he received a hearing in the office of an IRS official in Washington DC. The appeal was turned down because the IRS official said that CryoCare was working on the basis that its patients were not really dead and could be resuscitated one day. Therefore it could not be a cemetery association. Did this mean that the IRS was endorsing the feasibility of cryonics? The IRS official chose not to address that question. He turned down the appeal anyway.

All of this information--and many other accounts of initiatives that didn't work--are available online for anyone willing to go looking. Of course this requires a little bit more initiative than making CryoNet posts that tell other people what they should do, because it's all so obvious.

Fly Longevity Experiments 111 to 128

By Doug Skrecky <oberon@vcn.bc.ca>

This is the 112^th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 25.8 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 74 days. Here I retest some previous items. Beet, canned coffee/milk, and spinach all improved survival in earlier experiments. Both the coffee, and milk components of coffee/milk are examined separately as well. Since all flies are stored in the dark, I also check to see if a vitamin D deficiency may be influencing survival. Neither beet nor spinach increased survival this time, so the previous results must have been due to chance. No benefit was seen for vitamin D, but 10% skim milk may have been helpful. Coffee by itself, and to a lesser degree coffee/milk appeared to offer a survival advantage early in the experiment.

This is the 113^th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 25.8 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 74 days. Here I continue examining raw produce extracts, and also recheck the previously detected benefit of carob. At just 36 days, maximum control survival here compares very poorly with the 63 days from the last run. I suspect the breeding bottle used to provide flies for this run, may have been heavily infected with some pathogen(s). Cantalope and honeydew melon appeared to offer some protection. A benefit from carob was evident at the 1 teaspoon dose. Carob is currently being retested again in run #124.

On the next page is the 114^th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 25.9 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 73 days. Of the raw produce extracts examined this time, avocado proved to toxic. This was expected since avocado has a high fat content, and flies are known to be adversely affected by dietary fat. High dose red tomato appeared to be slightly beneficial, but this result may have been due to chance.

This is the 115^th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 25.4 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 79 days. In this lot of raw produce testing, high dose leek bulb proved to be toxic. I had high hopes for persimmon, but these were dashed by indifferent results.

This is the 116^th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 25.7 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 75 days. The most outstanding result this time was the extreme toxicity of raw garlic, and mandarin peel. I'd earlier tried Kyolic garlic extract, and found this to be slightly beneficial. However raw garlic appears to be an effective pesticide. Of the other extracts, red onion appeared to be slightly beneficial.

This is the 118^th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 25.0 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 83 days. Banana pulp appeared to offer an advantage during the first 2 weeks of this experiment. If this result is not due to chance, then there may exist an unstable protective ingredient in bananas. Run #119 will further investigate this possibility.

This is the 119^th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 23.9 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 95 days.

Yellow banana pulp once again offered substantial protection during the first two weeks of the experiment. Ripe banana failed to acheive this, and cooked banana offered a lesser degree of protection. The active ingrediant(s) are apparently unstable, and maximal longevity was reduced at high 20% doses of banana. Dragonfruit rind also offered some transient benefit.

Since fly food is never changed after an experiment is initiated, unstable protectants can not offer long-term protection, due to this experimental limitation.

This is the 120^th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 23.5 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 100 days.

In this run, cooked beans were blended with the water, which was added to the fly food. It appeared that the flies did not care for these beans.

This is the 121^st update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 22.7 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 108 days.

Here an interesting supplement called theanine has its effect on longevity tested for the first time. This run also continues testing various cooked beans.

Theanine is believed to be the major immune stimulating agent in tea. I was hoping for some modest increase in average lifespan. This expectation appeared to be fulfilled in the present experiment. No evidence for a dose/response was found, so it appears small doses are maximally effective. Although there was some increase in maximal longevity from the control's 61 days to 88 days, this was still much lower than the estimated maximum longevity of 108 days.

Of the beans, some interesting results were found with the 8% white kidney bean bottle. This result will have to replicated before a chance finding can be ruled out. No benefit had earlier been found for red kidney beans.

Run #121 supplement	Percent Survival on Day
	9	15	20	25	31	37	43	49	56	61	66	71	76	82	88	97
control one	87	78	78	74	57	57	49	35	22	13	0	-	-	-	-	-
control two	92	76	72	68	64	44	36	24	8	4	0	-	-	-	-	-
broad beans 8%	96	85	85	78	67	48	33	33	19	15	4	0	-	-	-	-
broad beans 33%	80	67	67	67	40	33	20	20	7	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
kidney, white 8%	100	100	100	100	86	69	35	31	14	17	14	10	7	3	3	0
kidney, white 33%	100	88	88	82	77	53	18	6	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
lupini beans 8%	94	73	73	67	58	52	30	15	9	3	3	0	-	-	-	-
lupini beans 33%	79	50	42	29	8	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
romano beans 8%	88	82	77	59	47	32	15	12	3	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
romano beans 33%	96	91	78	78	70	52	30	26	9	9	0	-	-	-	-	-
theanine 50 mg	97	89	83	81	72	58	53	42	30	28	6	3	3	0	-	-
theanine 100 mg	100	98	84	79	70	63	51	49	30	26	19	14	7	7	0	-
theanine 200 mg	91	88	84	81	69	59	47	31	22	19	9	6	3	3	0	-
theanine 400 mg	93	89	79	79	61	57	57	43	36	18	11	11	4	4	4	0

This is the 122^nd update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 22.7 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 108 days. No raw vegetable tested this time offered any clear benefit.

This is the 123^rd update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 22.1 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 116 days.

In run #121 white kidney bean appeared to offer some benefit during the first few weeks of that experiment. This could have been a chance finding. However the present experiment indicates that it was probably a real, though transient beneficial effect of white kidney beans. Red kidney beans offered no benefit in run #120.

In an as yet unpublished exp