235 Essays on Infinite Lifespans   Ben Best only for the coming year, chances are very good that you will survive the entire year, but maybe not so good that you will survive the following year. If you allocate one dollar per year to survive one million years you may have a hard time lasting even one year with only a dollar for food, shelter, medicine, self-defense, etc. By allocating more money to the next few decades you increase the probability that you will be able to acquire money to survive in future decades. The analogy with money should be expanded to effort and attention. I have known an ‘immortalist’ who argued very strenuously with me when I suggested that physical immortality is prob- ably not possible or deserving of attention. Yet this person would not make the effort to complete cryonics paperwork – preferring philosophical questions. Although many defend- ers  of  physical  immortality  have  indeed  completed  their paperwork, I still think the emphasis on physical immortality is misplaced. It is too easy to step into an open manhole by spending too much time with one’s head in the clouds. Even if one’s own immediate survival is not imperiled, there is a danger to others – and ultimately to oneself – of distracting attention from real and tractable problems in favor of futuris- tic and fanciful ones (which may be more entertaining). Concerning priorities, I think that making cryonics arrange- ments – and taking steps to ensure that those arrangements are implemented – is good first aid. It could be valuable to work on means of extending maximum life span, but only after ade- quate attention has been given to preventing death by cancer, cardiovascular  disease  and  fatal  accident.  Too  much  focus on the former while ignoring the latter is another instance of having one’s head in the clouds. A very sad example in this regard is Frank Cole, who studied anti-aging medicine, practiced  calorie  restriction,  made  cryonics  arrangements, trained as an Alcor cryonics transport technician – and who was murdered in North Africa as a result of exposing himself