Second, only once (and if) he becomes convinced of its academic merits would I try to convince him to personally sign up. At that point I would pull out the “I’m your son and don’t want to see your identity erased” card. Then use arguments similar to http://lesswrong.com/lw/wq/you_only_live_twice/.
But do note that the vast majority of people who are interested in cryonics self-select for it, and based on prior odds, you are unlikely to be successful in your endeavor. Sorry.
you should try to convince him on the intellectual level that cryonics is feasible
If I can get him to the point where he’s wondering if it is feasible, I’ve already won. What I need is something to get him passed the Cached Belief that he already knows that it isn’t feasible.
As I said in my original post, I’m confident that if he’d never heard of cryonics before, he wouldn’t need anyone to talk him into it. I could just present him with the information.
I think it is going to have to be a slow process.
First, you should try to convince him on the intellectual level that cryonics is feasible. If he is willing to read and likes science, this might be a good post to send him a link of: http://chronopause.com/index.php/2011/02/23/does-personal-identity-survive-cryopreservation/. I also might send him a link to the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics, which is pretty balanced. Frame it is an academic exercise. Who knows, maybe he can poke some holes in it? (And if he does, please report them back here.)
Second, only once (and if) he becomes convinced of its academic merits would I try to convince him to personally sign up. At that point I would pull out the “I’m your son and don’t want to see your identity erased” card. Then use arguments similar to http://lesswrong.com/lw/wq/you_only_live_twice/.
But do note that the vast majority of people who are interested in cryonics self-select for it, and based on prior odds, you are unlikely to be successful in your endeavor. Sorry.
If I can get him to the point where he’s wondering if it is feasible, I’ve already won. What I need is something to get him passed the Cached Belief that he already knows that it isn’t feasible.
As I said in my original post, I’m confident that if he’d never heard of cryonics before, he wouldn’t need anyone to talk him into it. I could just present him with the information.