Alcor Member Profile: Brian Harris

Alcor Member Profile
From Cryonics March-April 2005

An interview with Cryonics Magazine

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Brian Harris


Brian Harris is serving on active duty as a Chief Warrant Officer supporting the Army Reserve in the Phoenix area. He was born in 1976 in St. Louis, Missouri, earned a BA in psychology from Rhodes College and is currently working on an MBA from Webster University. He has been happily married for five years to Katie Harris, who lives with him in Phoenix, Arizona, along with their son Alexander.

Brian Harris
Brian with newborn son.

CM: Tell us about your first exposure to cryonics.

BH: I was working at Northwestern Mutual as a college intern when my mentor showed me a peculiar owner for an insurance policy, a small cryonics firm named Alcor. At the time, I remember scratching my head and thinking, “That’s interesting,” but I didn’t give it much further thought. Several years later, I read James Halperin’s book The First Immortal, and suddenly it clicked and made sense to me. This book was really critical to my decision to sign up for cryonics; it gave me a positive vision for the future, a sort of mental framework to hang my own vision on. At the same time, the book also explored many of the fascinating legal, ethical, and societal challenges that are likely to arise if/when cryonics works. I think my experience as an insurance agent is a tremendous benefit to me from a cryonics standpoint. Since my early 20’s, I’ve had substantial amounts of insurance, and I’ve never been hesitant about confronting my own mortality. I realized, as I was telling my clients, that you never know when you’ll step out in the street and get hit by a bus. This made me open to signing up for cryonics at a relatively early age (26).

CM: How has your interest evolved over the years?

BH: I’ve become increasingly involved with Alcor over the years. The military offered me an opportunity to move to Phoenix to support some reserve units, and I jumped on it. Not only do I like the southwest, but it also gave me the opportunity to volunteer at Alcor. Since I moved here two years ago, I’ve assisted with five cryopreservations, performed about four interviews with the media from around the world, and I’m currently helping to follow up with prospective members. I’m really excited to be a volunteer with Alcor. I see the organization as absolutely cutting edge; they’re making a heroic, last ditch effort to preserve life. If it works, I believe that one day those of us involved in the early stages will be seen as pioneers and visionaries. The nice thing about cryonics is that if we’re right, we’ll be here to congratulate each other in the future. If we’re wrong… we’ll be dead like everyone else and we won’t ever know the difference!

CM: When did you join Alcor and what motivated you to become a member?

BH: I joined Alcor in October of 2002. Before joining, I made sure to do my homework; I visited the Alcor facility and was very impressed with both the staff and facilities. I also spent a lot of time researching cryonics as both a science and an industry, and it became clear to me that cryonics does have a chance of working, and that if it does ever work, Alcor’s procedures give us the best possible chance of seeing the future.

CM: How does your membership impact your life plans or lifestyle?

BH: Being a cryonicist continues to affect just about every aspect of my life. I’m involved with Alcor on a volunteer basis, I’m pretty meticulous about keeping wills and life insurance up to date, and I’m very careful to watch what I eat and exercise on a regular basis. I’m hoping I’ll live long enough and never need Alcor’s services. I like being prepared, though. As they say, “Getting frozen is the second worst thing that can happen to you.” I’m very “out” about being signed up with Alcor, and I’ve generally had positive reactions. Most of the people I meet are either curious or indifferent. I haven’t had any really negative reactions. My current military command all know about my cryopreservation wishes, and most of them have visited Alcor to see what it’s all about.

CM: What do you consider the most challenging aspect of cryonics?

BH: The most challenging aspect is changing the public paradigm that death is a natural part of life and should just be accepted. If people would really confront their own mortality instead of trying to ignore it, they’d be more open to looking into things like cryonics. Having worked in the insurance industry for several years, I believe this is a major hurdle for cryonics organizations. This comparison between life insurance and cryonics only goes so far, however. The insurance industry has been very successful at getting people to purchase life insurance to protect their loved ones. For a cryonics organization, however, you’re trying to “sell” people on an unproven science.

CM: What areas of Alcor’s program would you like to see developed over the next 5-10 years?

BH: Membership, membership, membership! There is strength in numbers, and right now we don’t even have 1,000 people. As someone once put it, we’re a 30-year startup company, which makes no sense to me since there are no other alternatives if you want even a remote chance of living to see the future. I would love to see Alcor’s numbers grow to 5,000 or more in the next 10 years. This would give Alcor more discretionary budget for research, facility upgrades, staff, marketing, lobbying, building a financial reserve, etc. It would also give us a bit more political clout, especially if the members continue to be concentrated in the Phoenix area.

CM: What kind of lasting contribution would you like to make?

BH: I’d love to be the first person successfully revived!!! In all seriousness, whoever is the first one out of that dewar is going to have incredible responsibilities. They’ll represent cryonics to the world and will likely have the most complex legal problems of anyone in history. Whoever it is, they’ll be blazing a trail for the rest of us.

CM: How do you think the media affects the cryonics movement?

BH: The media has a huge impact on just about every movement. I think Alcor has made some great strides forward in recent years with their marketing efforts. These efforts are going to be critical to move us even further into the mainstream.

CM: I understand one of your hobbies is participating in a medieval re-enactment group. Tell us about that.

BH: My wife and I are heavily involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism (www.sca.org). There is, in my mind, a certain irony in a cryonicist being involved in a medieval re-enactment group, but it brings up a very important philosophical point. There is a concern from some bioethicists that extreme life extension will somehow dehumanize us. Extreme life extension is not something we want forced on anyone, but rather it is a choice open to everyone. Ultimately, it will make available a broader range of human experiences. Two hundred years ago, for example, there were no medieval re-enactment groups, post-modern art, Andrew Lloyd Webber, commercial space travel, swing dancing or Sponge Bob Squarepants. I would argue that our 70 some odd years is not nearly enough to experience all of the wonders that both science and culture have to offer, and the breadth of choices gets larger every year. In the end, it is our experiences which make us so much more human.

CM: What do your friends and family members think about your cryopreservation arrangements?

BH: Most of my family has visited Alcor, and we’ve discussed cryonics extensively. They are all supportive of my decision, but none of them have signed up yet. I’m trying not to “hard sell” them, but rather I continue to talk about how excited I am about cryonics and why I believe it may work one day. My suspicion is that most people who apply for membership do so because they know a cryonicst who has spoken to them about Alcor. This personal contact is what allows people to see Alcor less as a fringe activity and more as a legitimate effort to preserve life. We have to try to convey our enthusiasm to prospective members while debunking many of the popular misunderstandings that have arisen about cryonics over the years.

CM: Have you had a chance to meet other members?

BH: I’ve met more cryonicists than most. I had the pleasure of meeting some of our international members from Canada and England while I was attending standby training, and I’ve met a variety of others at local social gatherings. I continue to be impressed with their openness to new ideas and zeal for life.

CM: What could Alcor do that would benefit you as a member?

BH: Again, build the membership. The larger and more stable the organization, the more services they’ll be able to offer at lower cost. Following up on the previous question, this needs to be a joint effort with the existing membership. We all have a tremendous impact on how strong we are.

CM: What do you think of Comprehensive Member Standby?

BH: I’ve been on the standby team for about two years, so I understand the criticality of getting to a patient quickly. Comprehensive Member Standby will allow us to guarantee that we’ll be there in the timeliest manner possible without risking the financial health of Alcor.

CM: What would you like to say to other members reading this interview?

BH: I’m thrilled to be a member of Alcor with you. Regardless of whether or not this actually works, we should all be proud of our collective pioneering spirit. Not only are we on the forefront of scientific advancement, but we are also challenging literally thousands of years of assumptions about what it means to be human and what our ultimate destiny is. This takes a tremendous amount of courage. Always keep your eye on what we’re trying to accomplish. Our efforts together could one day provide a bridge to the future for millions of people who otherwise will be abandoned by current medicine. Stand proud as a cryonicist!

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