Well the practical advice is being offered to LW, and I’d guess that most of the people here are not average IQ, and neither are their friends and family. I personally think it’s a great idea to try and give someone the relevant factual background to understand why cryonics is desirable before bringing up the option. It probably wouldn’t work, simply because almost all attempts to sell cryonics to anyone don’t work, but it should at least decrease the probability of them reacting with a knee-jerk dismissal of the whole subject as absurd.
I maintain that if you are male with a female relatively neurotypical partner, the probability of success of making her sign on the dotted line for cryo, or accepting wholeheartedly your own cryo is not maximized by using rational argument, rather it is maximized by having an understanding of the emotional world that the fairer sex inhabit, and how to control her emotions so that she does what you think best. She won’t listen to your words, she’ll sense the emotions and level of dominance in you, and then decide based on that, and then rationalize that decision.
This is a purely positive statement, i.e. it is empirically testable, and I hereby denounce any connotation that one might interpret it to have. Let me explicitly disclaim that I don’t think that womens’ emotional nature makes them inferior, just different, and in need of different treatment. Let me also disclaim that this applies only on average, and that there will be exceptions, i.e. highly systematizing women who will, in fact, be persuaded by rational argument.
I mostly agree with you. I would even expand your point to say that if you want to convince anyone (who isn’t a perfect Bayesian) to do anything, the probability of success will almost always be higher if you use primarily emotional manipulation rather than rational argument. But cryonics inspires such strong negative emotional reactions in people that I think it would be nearly impossible to combat those with emotional manipulation of the type you describe alone. I haven’t heard of anyone choosing cryonics for themselves without having to make a rational effort to override their gut response against it, and that requires understanding the facts. Besides, I think the type of males who choose cryonics tend to have female partners of at least above-average intelligence, so that should make the explanatory process marginally less difficult.
Besides, I think the type of males who choose cryonics tend to have female partners of at least above-average intelligence, so that should make the explanatory process marginally less difficult.
Right, but the data says that it is a serious problem. Cryonics wife problem, etc.
Well the practical advice is being offered to LW, and I’d guess that most of the people here are not average IQ, and neither are their friends and family. I personally think it’s a great idea to try and give someone the relevant factual background to understand why cryonics is desirable before bringing up the option. It probably wouldn’t work, simply because almost all attempts to sell cryonics to anyone don’t work, but it should at least decrease the probability of them reacting with a knee-jerk dismissal of the whole subject as absurd.
I maintain that if you are male with a female relatively neurotypical partner, the probability of success of making her sign on the dotted line for cryo, or accepting wholeheartedly your own cryo is not maximized by using rational argument, rather it is maximized by having an understanding of the emotional world that the fairer sex inhabit, and how to control her emotions so that she does what you think best. She won’t listen to your words, she’ll sense the emotions and level of dominance in you, and then decide based on that, and then rationalize that decision.
This is a purely positive statement, i.e. it is empirically testable, and I hereby denounce any connotation that one might interpret it to have. Let me explicitly disclaim that I don’t think that womens’ emotional nature makes them inferior, just different, and in need of different treatment. Let me also disclaim that this applies only on average, and that there will be exceptions, i.e. highly systematizing women who will, in fact, be persuaded by rational argument.
I mostly agree with you. I would even expand your point to say that if you want to convince anyone (who isn’t a perfect Bayesian) to do anything, the probability of success will almost always be higher if you use primarily emotional manipulation rather than rational argument. But cryonics inspires such strong negative emotional reactions in people that I think it would be nearly impossible to combat those with emotional manipulation of the type you describe alone. I haven’t heard of anyone choosing cryonics for themselves without having to make a rational effort to override their gut response against it, and that requires understanding the facts. Besides, I think the type of males who choose cryonics tend to have female partners of at least above-average intelligence, so that should make the explanatory process marginally less difficult.
Right, but the data says that it is a serious problem. Cryonics wife problem, etc.
I wonder how these women feel about being labeled “The Hostile Wife Phenomenon”?
Full of righteous indignation, I should imagine. After all, they see it as their own husbands betraying them.