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Things You Can Do

Seventeen Easy Things You Can Do To Help The Cryonics Institute And The Cryonics Movement

1. Join. It could save your life. And not just save your life, but extend it immeasurably -- and do the same for the lives of people who love you, or who see your example and are moved or inspired to join too. If you don’t sign up? You will die. The only other option waiting for you -- and them -- is the absolute certainty of physically irreversible death. That’s the bottom line. So for your sake and their sake: join us. Or if not us, then please: sign with any of the reputable cryonics organizations. But don’t wait, don’t procrastinate, don’t put it off: either sign up now, or sign up as soon as you’ve checked out whatever information or sources you need to check out to make a decision. Remember: while you’re alive, you can always change your mind and opt out. But anyone can die by unforeseen accident at any time, and everyone will die sooner or later. And if you’re not a member when that happens, you will never get a second chance.

2. Study. Know what cryonics is all about, know why you’re in it, and know what you stand for. Read. Be able to defend your views. Know why some of the most intelligent people in the scientific and academic and medical communities have made that choice and be able to explain it to others.

3. Prepare. Talk to your doctor. Talk to your lawyer. Talk to your family. Talk to the Emergency room at your nearest hospital, or to your funeral director. It will make the process of suspension safer and better. And talk to us when you do. Because we’ll help.

4. Give. Yes, yes - we know everyone says that. There are a thousand worthy organizations asking you for donations every day of the week. The fact remains: running a cryonics organization costs money. True, we’re financially sound -- but it never hurts to be even sounder. The more money we have, the safer our patients are, the better our research becomes, the more our organization prospers. (And we might add that donations for research to The Immortalist Society are tax-deductible.) If you don’t have money? Raise some. The public library is full of books with ideas about fundraising activities that are not only profitable but fun -- everything from bake sales to yard sales to plays and concerts.

5. Get the word out. Remember that most people don’t even know what the word ‘cryonics’ means. They don’t know the recent scientific and technological advances that made it plausible. They don’t know where to find a provider. They don’t know where to get further information. Tell them. Put www.cryonics.org on your home page, your medic alert bracelet, your exercise trunks, your T shirt, your bumper sticker. Put it onto your email signature when you go to surf the web or email newsgroups about Star Trek or tennis or whatever. No, don’t push cryonics on people; that doesn’t work. But make knowledge about it easily available.

6. Organize. Form a cryonics group in your area. It can be as simple as a group of friends who get together every once in a while for coffee, or as organized as a group that gives talks and presentations at colleges and community centers. It can be what you want it to be, but what you don’t want to be is alone. You don’t have to be. Put an ad in the paper and say you’re forming a group. People will call. People who’ll become your friends.

7. Volunteer. Do you have time? Skills? Items to donate? A forum to express your views? Write us or email us. Maybe we can use you.

8. Admit it. Tell people about your decision. CI zealously respects and guards our members’ privacy, and we don’t publish or make known the names of any member who doesn’t give us his or her explicit permission to do so. But after all - why hide a sensible decision, and a sane action? Cryonics is not a hidden vice. It’s a smart move. And people willing to take an intelligent stand and do the right thing should be willing to say so. Yes, you may run into one or two people who have only the grossest misconception of what cryonics is all about, or who feel obligated to rant their misinformed negative views into your ear. Listen to their views. Politely. But stand up for yours. Publicly. They might just listen. And others certainly will. The more people know about cryonics, the more people are likely to join -- and to live.

9. Help others to join. Don’t be a pain in the neck, don’t nag, don’t twist any arms: nobody likes a pushy salesman, particularly if he’s walked up to you out of the blue selling something as unusual at first glance as cryonic suspension. But as cryonics becomes better known, if the sheer common sense of the cryonics position becomes more apparent to someone you know, and they’ve heard that you know something about it, don’t brush them off: help them out. Answer their questions, or at least send them somewhere they can find out more. This web page is not a bad place to start, and some of the books mentioned in our What To Read page aren’t bad places to start either.

10. Take care of yourself physically. Go for walks, eat right, take your vitamins, work out. The longer you live, the better the chances are that your own suspension will be technologically more advanced, and therefore safer and better.

11. Take care of yourself financially. Sad to say, but the wealthier you are, the better your chances are for top-flight medical care and long life and so, again, a better and safer suspension and an easier recovery. Work hard, work smart, and invest with care - and consider investing in companies developing nanotechnology applications. (Our Links page can direct you to several.)

12. Take care of your society. Be politically and socially active. Don’t misunderstand us! The Cryonics Institute has no political or religious agenda whatsoever. We aren’t asking what your political party or religious views may be, and we aren’t advocating any. We only want you to be alive to express them for many years to come. But right or left, believer or non-believer, conservative or radical or libertarian, you can work for a better world -- and you should. Cryonics patients are only going to be revived in a world of peace, economic stability, and freedom. A world that devotes itself to letting people die or making them die won’t spend its time and money bringing others back to life. War, poverty, and tyranny should be fought for its own sake -- but for the sake of cryonics, let’s put in some extra effort. We need peace, wealth, and freedom to make it work. So work for it.

13. Think. CI needs good ideas. Suggestions from readers and members -- and criticisms too -- are sought after and are welcome.

14. Look good. You’re representing a movement that’s trying to produce one of the most extraordinary and beneficial changes in human history. Do a good job of it. Let people see that you’re intelligent, informed, committed -- and good-humored too.

15. Get a life. Nobody likes a broken record. Forget about cryonics sometimes. Sit around with some friends. Watch sports. Go to a concert. Get a good night’s sleep. Fall in love. See a good movie. Enjoy a nice meal. Learn to enjoy life now. When you’re revived, you’ll be that much better at it.

16. Don’t worry, be happy. Every day cryonics books make more sales, cryonics sites have more readers, cryonics research makes more progress, cryonics organizations get more members. So relax. We’ll get there.

17. Remember. You’re fighting not only for your life, but for the life of the people you love. Because cryonics really could save your life and their lives. Cryonics really does have the potential of reducing human suffering immensely and enhancing human existence immeasurably. And you can take part in it. So take part. Go through this list, post it prominently some where, read it, and pick one thing on it that you can do, right now. And go do it.

Email us at: cryonics@cryonics.org  

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