227 Essays on Infinite Lifespans   Shannon Vyff any other countries and even many countries entire GNP. In discussions, when some are particularly pessimistic about the ability of our current society to change, I point out that I notice more people every year are committed to bringing about  complete  political  reprioritization.  This  makes  me optimistic. Yet when I look at the past 2000 years of writ- ten human history, I know the changes I envision, including immortality, may not occur within my lifetime, even with CR. So I have a back up plan: This  is  when  I  show  my  braided  gold  medic-alert  while I say I’m signed up with ALCOR to be frozen when I die (actually ‘vitrified’, a new technique with virtually no cellular damage). [14] To me, it beats being buried in the ground or becoming ashes. I then explain why I hope to see the future: I believe we will soon (100 years or so) learn to not only end aging but to reverse it and have handy things like brain back- ups if we have accidents, effectively making us immortal. This  is  where  the  various  conversations  with  strangers, friends, and family from all walks of life, in all sorts of places, really get interesting! People understand eating healthy; they appreciate hearing practical things to help them now in 2004. It is easy to have someone believe you when you talk of things that can help right now, but when projecting into the realm of science fiction, or just humanity’s future, I run up against a wall. Facial expressions change and I’m asked why I’d want to live forever or believe on blind faith that it is possible. This is where I hear that God, evolution, or fate knows when we are to die and that it is selfish to extend our lives unnaturally. I point out that a primitive society life span is around 25 years of age with 40 being a rare old man. Being old is in fact not natural in nature’s setting. Living 50–60+ years for a signifi- cant percentage of human populations is a modern adaptation of the last 100 years of human history. The majority of deaths also changed from those of young children to those of old