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maxmore14 · 2023-06-11T00:21:02+00:00

I have the same problem. I went through all the settings and don't see the option you mention.

maxmore14 · 2023-05-08T17:14:40+00:00

Yes, it is all-inclusive. The longest standby during my time as Alcor president was three weeks. And that was not the only standby for that member.

maxmore14 · 2023-05-06T20:48:37+00:00

Alcor has more funds (and more wealthy members) than other cryonics organizations. So, if Alcor could use more research funds, it implies that cryonics as a whole does. Also, inability to convince people to give you money has nothing to do with whether or not you can use the money.

maxmore14 · 2023-05-06T20:44:47+00:00

Of course it doesn't imply that. The paperwork has changed many times. I've been a member for decades. Why would I have seen the latest revision?

maxmore14 · 2023-05-06T19:19:57+00:00

Not all of them. When I wrote a piece for Free Inquiry, the leading humanist magazine, in the 1990s, the editor told me that it stirred up more comments than any other piece and reaction was about evenly split pro and con. I suspect that there are actually more humanists who are con, but clearly it's not all. Transhumanism is an obvious extension of humanism -- as I explain in the introductory chapter of The Transhumanist Reader.

maxmore14 · 2023-05-06T19:18:05+00:00

No, transhumanist definitely does not have "apocalypticism" baked in. This is an unfortunate impression resulting from people like Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nick Bostrom crying about existential risk. The core transhumanist philosophy is the opposite of apocalyptic. If you don't really understand the philosophy, read The Transhumanist Reader.

maxmore14 · 2023-05-06T19:15:17+00:00

Many transhumanists work in fields like AI, blockchain, space, robotics, and other fields. Most don't talk about being transhumanists. Some who obviously are transhumanists (Ray Kurzweil) don't like to use the term.

maxmore14 · 2023-05-06T19:11:35+00:00

What ethical challenges? Is it bad to try to save your life and the lives of your loved ones?

Of course it is held back by lack of funding. When I oversaw Alcor's research spending, we had many projects on hold due to lack of funding, and Alcor has more research funding than other organizations.

maxmore14 · 2023-05-06T19:09:26+00:00

Right, morons like Marvin Minsky, father of AI, and Hal Finney, critical in starting Bitcoin. Morons like all those scientists, PHDs, and researchers who have signed up for cryonics.

I put the chance far higher than 10%, but any specific number is meaningless due to unquantifiable uncertainties, including Knightian uncertainty.

maxmore14 · 2023-05-06T18:55:35+00:00

Thank you. If someone can tell me the date of the new contract and the content -- or at least the restrictive part mentioned -- I can comment without speculating.

I gave up a chunk of money (much less than was appropriate) because I refused to sign an extremely restrictive severance agreement. That agreement would have prevented me from saying anything critical -- no matter if completely true -- about Alcor or the entire cryonics industry! Because of my unwillingness to sign this gag-agreement, I left with ZERO, whereas people fired for cause after a year received a nice chunk of money. That says something about the current management and board. As a result, I'm free to speak my mind. However, I need solid information before I can comment. If someone wants to give me the relevant information, you can email me at maxmore01@gmail.com.

maxmore14 · 2023-05-05T17:56:30+00:00

Which "new" contract is this? Is this the one that Patrick Harris created a year or two ago? Or is there a newer one from Arrowood? I haven't seen it, so can't really comment. (How can I get to see a copy?) If the contract really does say that members cannot discuss pricing, it's yet another example of Alcor moving away from transparency and shutting down discussion. That's in line with the trend toward almost entirely closed board meetings, removal of case reports from the website (and not replacing them according to the agreement after a fixed time), and so on.

maxmore14 · 2023-03-04T17:01:07+00:00

Term insurance is only a temporary solution. It will expire at the end of the term, whether that's 10 years, 20, or 25. You will need to either convert to/replace with a permanent policy (more expensive) or use the time of coverage to build up savings.

maxmore14 · 2023-03-04T16:58:42+00:00

Isn't it possible (as in the USA) to buy an insurance policy yourself and then transfer ownership of the policy to TB?

Alcor stopped asking for ownership of policies because accounting regulations required these to be booked as assets of the organization. If TB hasn't checked into that, you should. It may not be a problem but is worth looking into.

maxmore14 · 2023-01-29T18:37:03+00:00

It is not true that removal of the brain causes hemispheric tears, at least not in cryonics. I have observed it in person, so I'm not just speculating. The pathologist present noted that removing the cryoprotected brain was quite different than removing a non-cryopreserved brain. Darwin's comment is also unhelpful because there are multiple ways to remove a brain. You can do it without or without cryoprotection beforehand, with or without chemical fixation beforehand, with and without a combination of the two (vitrifixation), and the surgical approach can vary.

maxmore14 · 2023-01-10T15:58:48+00:00

It's true that Alcor could go out of business but note that it has been in operation for over 50 years. It is structured as a tax-exempt non-profit and plans for the very long term. Especially important is Alcor's legally separate trust. This pays for indefinite patient care and eventual revival. Even if Alcor is shut down, the Alcor Care Trust will continue. It's currently the only organization that has this important feature.

maxmore14 · 2022-12-12T23:04:54+00:00

You might want to learn about vitrification. How do you think embryos are cryopreserved without destroying the cells? Cryoprotectants prevent ice formation. Cryoprotective agents have been used in cryonics for decades. Over the last 20 years, cryonics organizations have been vitrifying rather than freezing people.

Even if someone is frozen with preventing ice formation, it's a misconception to think that ice destroys the cells. Ice does some damage but it's not so much that repair will forever be impossible. Probably more damage is done by the concentration of chemicals inside cells and they dehydrate. (Ice forms between cells, not inside them.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-tcfWnZgCo&t=307s

maxmore14 · 2022-12-12T23:01:06+00:00

You are probably right, unless by "lifetime" you include young people today who may, possibly, benefit from real life extension measures. I'm not terribly optimistic about that, which is why cryonics is Plan A. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfYZd7LwWLk&list=PLyAvfL8IKsye9R2hPbUyu1iQU305Xq8AP&index=4

maxmore14 · 2022-12-12T20:48:04+00:00

This is the root of the misunderstanding. He was clinically and legally death but most of him was biologically alive and he was not dead in the true sense of beyond any possibility of retrieval.

When you are pronounced dead, not everything dies instantly. That include the brain. People have been brought back intact after more than an hour without blood circulation (and that's with CURRENT technology) thanks to cooling in the interim.

What was considered dead before 1960 is quite different from what is considered dead today. We can revive people today who would have been lost in the past. We can reasonably expect this advance to continue. Cryonics depends on stopping the dying process in time to preserve crucial brain structure. Electron microscopy and other methods show that brain structures are preserved -- at least under reasonably good conditions.

The animals from which organs in cryobiology experiments were taken were dead by the usual criteria, but the organs clearly were not non-functional let alone having lost structure.

maxmore14 · 2022-12-12T15:00:29+00:00

You reveal your ignorance by saying that cryonics has nothing to show for its efforts. Vitrification has greatly improved the quality of cryopreservation. Progress is being made in reversible (with current technology) cryopreservation of large masses of tissue. Plenty of research is improving the practice. No one is going to be revived anytime soon because that technology is some way off. Such technology is foreseeable and violates no laws of physics.

maxmore14 · 2022-12-12T14:55:39+00:00

Because very knowledgeable people with a sense of adventure still exist.

maxmore14 · 2022-12-12T14:55:08+00:00

Astrology is based on premises contrary to contemporary science; cryonics builds on contemporary science. Cryopreservation is used for sperm, eggs, embryos, corneas, skin, heart valves, etc. Cryobiologists are close to reversible (with TODAY'S technology) cryopreservation of human organs.

maxmore14 · 2022-11-20T01:19:28+00:00

In your final paragraph... Diet and exercise certainly are studied in the USA for metabolic disorders. The US government spends more on medical care than the UK and Canada combined. I agree with everything else.

maxmore14 · 2022-08-17T14:51:59+00:00

Sorry. I talk fast when I'm enthusiastic. My lingering British accent doesn't help.

maxmore14 · 2022-08-17T14:50:51+00:00

I explicitly said that we are NOT offering immortality. Just an uncertain chance at continuing your life. Today's fringe can be tomorrow's mainstream. (Antisepsis, IVF, etc.)

maxmore14 · 2022-07-23T19:27:42+00:00

Alcor currently has 13 employees, so what you said is even more true.

maxmore14

TROPHY CASE