Wanting cryo signals disloyalty to your present allies.
I don’t see why you’d be showing disloyalty to those of your allies who are also choosing cryo.
Here are some more possible reasons for being opposed to cryo.
Loss aversion. “It would be really stupid to put in that hope and money and get nothing for it.”
Fear that it might be too hard to adapt to the future society. (James Halperin’s The First Immortal has it that no one gets thawed unless someone is willing to help them adapt. would that make cryo seem more or less attractive?)
And, not being an expert on women, I have no idea why there’s a substantial difference in the proportions of men and women who are opposed to cryo.
Difference between showing and signalling disloyalty. To see that it is a signal of disloyalty/lower commitment, consider what signal would be sent out by Rob saying to Ruby: “Yes, I think cryo would work, but I think life would be meaningless without you by my side, so I won’t bother”
It’s seems to also be a signal of disloyalty/lower commitment to say, “No honey, I won’t throw myself on your funeral pyre after you die.” Why don’t we similarly demand “Yes, I could keep on living, but I think life would be meaningless without you by my side, so I won’t bother” in that case?
You have to differentiate between what an individual thinks/does/decides, and what society as a whole thinks/does/decides.
For example, in a society that generally accepted that it was the “done thing” for a person to die on the funeral pyre of their partner, saying that you wanted to make a deal to buck the trend would certainly be seen as selfish.
Most individuals see the world in terms of options that are socially allowable, and signals are considered relative to what is socially allowable.
I don’t see why you’d be showing disloyalty to those of your allies who are also choosing cryo.
Here are some more possible reasons for being opposed to cryo.
Loss aversion. “It would be really stupid to put in that hope and money and get nothing for it.”
Fear that it might be too hard to adapt to the future society. (James Halperin’s The First Immortal has it that no one gets thawed unless someone is willing to help them adapt. would that make cryo seem more or less attractive?)
And, not being an expert on women, I have no idea why there’s a substantial difference in the proportions of men and women who are opposed to cryo.
Difference between showing and signalling disloyalty. To see that it is a signal of disloyalty/lower commitment, consider what signal would be sent out by Rob saying to Ruby: “Yes, I think cryo would work, but I think life would be meaningless without you by my side, so I won’t bother”
It’s seems to also be a signal of disloyalty/lower commitment to say, “No honey, I won’t throw myself on your funeral pyre after you die.” Why don’t we similarly demand “Yes, I could keep on living, but I think life would be meaningless without you by my side, so I won’t bother” in that case?
You have to differentiate between what an individual thinks/does/decides, and what society as a whole thinks/does/decides.
For example, in a society that generally accepted that it was the “done thing” for a person to die on the funeral pyre of their partner, saying that you wanted to make a deal to buck the trend would certainly be seen as selfish.
Most individuals see the world in terms of options that are socially allowable, and signals are considered relative to what is socially allowable.