X-Message-Number: 10604 Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1998 09:38:42 -0700 From: Peter Merel <> Subject: For Thomas Nord >[Thomas Nord's flamage of Keith Lynch deleted] Thomas, you have to remember that cryonet is over ten years old. It's rude and heated too often, refined and high-signal too rarely, but Keith Lynch, perhaps unknown to you, provides the invaluable service of archiving the entire assortment of rambles, flames, and occasional moments of pith. Just why he does this is a mystery to most of us, but we remain grateful nonetheless; these records of us in shameless discourse may one day prove instrumental in motivating and validating our reconstruction. What distinguishes cryonet in this way is not the participation of determined cryonicists, "cash in hand" as you say, who too often generate more heat than light, but rather the careful, gentle, and open discussion of signal and technical material. This isn't to say that cryonet has no room for other topics - indeed, it often consists of nothing but other topics for months at a time - but that it has a focus, a purpose around which the other topics merely pitch their orbits. Now I meant no harm in my earlier criticism of your posts here. I only directed your attention to other fora where they might be of more central interest. I never suggested you ought not to post here, but only that you might align your posts more closely with the purpose of the place. Likewise I'm sure that Keith Lynch bore you no malice when he suggested you format your posts so that they are legible to others. He certainly said nothing that was worthy of your harsh response. To live for a long time means learning to accept and accomodate other people. No one without compassion and flexibility can endure, because lacking such qualities they will inevitably build a reaction against themselves in others that will overwhelm them. Though some here have occasionally seemed to feel that cryonic suspension can circumvent such a reaction, in fact, vulnerable in one's dewar, about the only thing that will improve the chances of safe passage and timely revival is a history of pleasing words, memorable works and fast friends. So I'd suggest it's purely in your own interests for you to raise signal and improve formatting. Your english language skills are not something for you to be embarrassed about - several highly regarded cryonet correspondents are not entirely comfortable with this language - but the lack of these skills is exacerbated by carrying on as you are. Improving the quality of your posts in these other ways will greatly mitigate shortcomings in grammar that may occur, and give "our friends in the future" the clearest image of those qualities in you that will make your revival worthwhile to them. Peter Merel. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=10604