X-Message-Number: 11071
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 12:24:12 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: Redundancy

On Mon, 11 Jan 1999, Thomas Donaldson wrote:

> We also have Mr. Platt, who has decided that as a mere amateur, Bob
> Ettinger ought not to question Turing. 

This form of argument, where you paraphrase me inaccurately in order to 
make me look stupid, is not very honorable.

Read what I wrote. I didn't say that Bob Ettinger QUESTIONED the Turing 
test. I said he DISMISSED it. He did so in a cavalier fashion, as if such 
a foolish idea is barely worth his time.

> Some Authorities are at least worth listening to. This does not mean that
> we must accept their opinions. I admit, however, to very strong skepticism
> that ANY authority could make our discussions redundant (sometimes wrong,
> sometimes right, but redundant?).

As I said in my last message, "most cryonicists seem to view academic 
credentials and real-world experience with a mixture of suspicion and 
contempt." I feel your own reply to my message tends to confirm it.

I do indeed believe that your discussions, and other perennial favorites
(identity, consciousness, uploading, etc) are redundant. I find hardly
anyone here making references outside of Cryonet; just a self-referential
crowd reinventing the wheel. That's your privilege. You obviously enjoy
it, and I wouldn't want to spoil anyone's fun. I find it odd, though, that
people who are supposedly urgently concerned with the threat of death
should be occupying themselves in this way. 

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