From the way you describe your parents, and from my experience with family and friends with similar outlooks, my best judgment is that if you do not bring up the matter of religion, they may very well not bring it up either, and if they do it will be more of a musing than an objection—they won’t demand anything more than a simple, friendly response such as “well, you will eventually find out about it either way”.
They may believe in an afterlife, but they are not looking forward to it—they don’t have a clear picture in their mind of frolicking among the clouds or some such. It’s a comfort belief that shields them from the idea that the good they [think they] did will not go explicitly rewarded, and/or that their loved ones are gone forever. You would face resistance when trying to convince them to “downgrade” from an afterlife to oblivion, but they will be quite open to an “upgrade”.
But that’s not to say it will be easy, because persuading them that cryonics is an upgrade will likely be very hard.
I think what you should really prepare for is convincing them that cryonics isn’t a scam or a waste of money, and either that it isn’t weird/creepy or that they shouldn’t care that it is. Going from what little data I have, I would predict that their ingrown beliefs in the importance of being normal, of being proper, is a hundred times stronger than their belief in an afterlife. To counteract this, show them the most ordinary cryonicists you can identify, the ones that are farthest away from show-biz billionaires and ultra-geeks who masturbate to H+; show them the most serious, best-reviewed papers on cryonics you can find (and don’t go looking specifically and exclusively for biased pieces, be respectful of their intelligence).
Don’t put them in any kind of hurry, encourage them to look up info on their own (yes, this means you will have to play apologist against all the sceptical literature, but it’s better than the alternative) and for the love of God don’t come off as being nervous or scared about their death: they will instantly assume your judgment is impaired from your worrying, and while they may feel somewhat comforted that you care so much for them, they will become a lot more prone to dismiss everything you said.
You would face resistance when trying to convince them to “downgrade” from an afterlife to oblivion, but they will be quite open to an “upgrade”.
It doesn’t need to be framed as an upgrade, just a delay. People would want to be resuscitated if they flat-lined, because they prefer living longer to dying right away—dying is always an option, and lasts forever, so there’s no hurry.
From the way you describe your parents, and from my experience with family and friends with similar outlooks, my best judgment is that if you do not bring up the matter of religion, they may very well not bring it up either, and if they do it will be more of a musing than an objection—they won’t demand anything more than a simple, friendly response such as “well, you will eventually find out about it either way”.
They may believe in an afterlife, but they are not looking forward to it—they don’t have a clear picture in their mind of frolicking among the clouds or some such. It’s a comfort belief that shields them from the idea that the good they [think they] did will not go explicitly rewarded, and/or that their loved ones are gone forever. You would face resistance when trying to convince them to “downgrade” from an afterlife to oblivion, but they will be quite open to an “upgrade”.
But that’s not to say it will be easy, because persuading them that cryonics is an upgrade will likely be very hard.
I think what you should really prepare for is convincing them that cryonics isn’t a scam or a waste of money, and either that it isn’t weird/creepy or that they shouldn’t care that it is. Going from what little data I have, I would predict that their ingrown beliefs in the importance of being normal, of being proper, is a hundred times stronger than their belief in an afterlife. To counteract this, show them the most ordinary cryonicists you can identify, the ones that are farthest away from show-biz billionaires and ultra-geeks who masturbate to H+; show them the most serious, best-reviewed papers on cryonics you can find (and don’t go looking specifically and exclusively for biased pieces, be respectful of their intelligence).
Don’t put them in any kind of hurry, encourage them to look up info on their own (yes, this means you will have to play apologist against all the sceptical literature, but it’s better than the alternative) and for the love of God don’t come off as being nervous or scared about their death: they will instantly assume your judgment is impaired from your worrying, and while they may feel somewhat comforted that you care so much for them, they will become a lot more prone to dismiss everything you said.
It doesn’t need to be framed as an upgrade, just a delay. People would want to be resuscitated if they flat-lined, because they prefer living longer to dying right away—dying is always an option, and lasts forever, so there’s no hurry.
Unless your brainstate has been recorded by somebody who doesn’t want you dead.