X-Message-Number: 14276
From: 
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2000 13:24:19 EDT
Subject: RE: Kennita at Chicon VI

In a message dated 8/9/00 2:03:33 AM,  writes:

>In fact, my wife Dawn and I created a new acronym you may find useful and
>relevant related to our Star Trek convention experiences.  We met lots
>of ...
>
>F P I  s
>Fantasy Prone Individuals. 

Here's my thoughts, very simplified, about the SF/Fantasy community, from 
which I come.  These are people who have retreated into a dreamworld, where 
they thrive on strange and different ideas and fantasies.  They don't do well 
in the real world, and that's really not their primary social function.  They 
act as a filter for developing SF ideas and seeing if they can thrive and 
survive in the real world.  So taking one of their ideas back to them as a 
real world function is NOT easy.  Its like expecting the LASFS (Los Angeles 
Science Fantasy Society est 1934) to have built the first moon rocket.  I 
love the SF community dearly, but they are more contrary, irrational, 
emotional, argumentative, and stubborn than, well, a bunch of cryonicists.

I will be at Chicon, and will be happy to attend Kennita's panel.  I would 
suggest that ideas be the center of the talk, about how it all might work and 
what the social impact would be for the people who leap forward through time 
via cryonics.  Don't try and get them to sign up, they will turn tail and 
run.  If you give them ideas to think about, they might have the individual 
courage over time to finally try and make one of their gestalt ideas a 
reality.

There's an old joke about the LASFS, and I get to tell it as a former board 
member of LASFS.  Here it is: If you tilt Los Angeles up on edge and give it 
a good shake, all the crumbs fall into the LASFS.  The other joke is you 
leave the LASFS once you get well.  Both of these have truisms at their core.

The club motto, on the other hand, is "Death will not release you."   This is 
often told to new fans once they've paid their $5 lifetime dues.  

I will be there cheering Kennita on, but don't expect SF fans to jump on 
anyone's bandwagon.  They're as likely to argue for outlawing cryonics to 
ensure ZPG..they just don't always apply rational thought processes to their 
lives.  Its a good thing, really, otherwise that crazy cave man Mog would 
never have thought about trying to contain that forest fire in a circle of 
rocks!

See you in Chicago, Kennita.  Anyone else gonna be there?

Mike Donahue

--------------------------------------------------
Dolphins don't have thumbs so the can't hold guns!

                                    - Michael Donahue

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