Fair enough. Are there any subjects about which there might not be as high an emotional backlash? Cryonics, maybe? Start off acting unconvinced and then visibly think about it over a period of time, coming to accept it later on. That doesn’t seem like a lot of emotion is involved; it seems entirely intellectual, and the main factor against cryonics is the “weirdness factor”, so if there’s someone alongside you getting convinced, it might make it easier, especially due to conformity effects.
It’s true that cryonics is about death, but I don’t think that necessarily means there’s “a lot of emotion involved”. Most forms of rejection to cryonics that I’ve seen seem to be pretty intellectual, actually; there’s a bunch of things like cost-benefit analysis and probability estimates going on, etc. I personally think it’s likely that there is some motivated cognition going on, but I don’t think it’s due to heavy emotions. As I said in my earlier comment, I think that the main factor against cryonics is the fact that it seems “weird”, and therefore the people who are signed up for it also seem “weird”. If that’s the case, then it may be to the advantage of cryonics advocates to place themselves in the “normal” category first by acting skeptical of a crankish-sounding idea, before slowly getting “convinced”. Compare that approach to the usual approach: “Hey, death sucks, wanna sign up to get your head frozen so you’ll have a chance at getting thawed in the future?” Comparatively speaking, I think that the “usual” approach is significantly more likely to get you landed in the “crackpot” category.
Most forms of rejection to cryonics that I’ve seen seem to be pretty intellectual, actually; there’s a bunch of things like cost-benefit analysis and probability estimates going on, etc
That’s really not how most people make their decisions.
Compare that approach to the usual approach: “Hey, death sucks, wanna sign up to get your head frozen so you’ll have a chance at getting thawed in the future?”
There are plenty of ways to tell someone about cryonics that don’t involve a direct plea for them to take action.
That’s really not how most people make their decisions.
Maybe it’s not how most people make their decisions, but I have seen a significant number of people who do reject cryonics on a firmly intellectual basis, both online and in real life. I suppose you could argue that it’s not their true rejection (in fact, it almost certainly isn’t), but even so, that’s evidence against heavy emotions playing a significant part in their decision process.
There are plenty of ways to tell someone about cryonics that don’t involve a direct plea for them to take action.
Yes, but most of them still suffer from the “weirdness factor”.
Fair enough. Are there any subjects about which there might not be as high an emotional backlash? Cryonics, maybe? Start off acting unconvinced and then visibly think about it over a period of time, coming to accept it later on. That doesn’t seem like a lot of emotion is involved; it seems entirely intellectual, and the main factor against cryonics is the “weirdness factor”, so if there’s someone alongside you getting convinced, it might make it easier, especially due to conformity effects.
The topic of cryonics is about dealing with death. There a lot of emotion involved for most people.
It’s true that cryonics is about death, but I don’t think that necessarily means there’s “a lot of emotion involved”. Most forms of rejection to cryonics that I’ve seen seem to be pretty intellectual, actually; there’s a bunch of things like cost-benefit analysis and probability estimates going on, etc. I personally think it’s likely that there is some motivated cognition going on, but I don’t think it’s due to heavy emotions. As I said in my earlier comment, I think that the main factor against cryonics is the fact that it seems “weird”, and therefore the people who are signed up for it also seem “weird”. If that’s the case, then it may be to the advantage of cryonics advocates to place themselves in the “normal” category first by acting skeptical of a crankish-sounding idea, before slowly getting “convinced”. Compare that approach to the usual approach: “Hey, death sucks, wanna sign up to get your head frozen so you’ll have a chance at getting thawed in the future?” Comparatively speaking, I think that the “usual” approach is significantly more likely to get you landed in the “crackpot” category.
That’s really not how most people make their decisions.
There are plenty of ways to tell someone about cryonics that don’t involve a direct plea for them to take action.
Maybe it’s not how most people make their decisions, but I have seen a significant number of people who do reject cryonics on a firmly intellectual basis, both online and in real life. I suppose you could argue that it’s not their true rejection (in fact, it almost certainly isn’t), but even so, that’s evidence against heavy emotions playing a significant part in their decision process.
Yes, but most of them still suffer from the “weirdness factor”.