X-Message-Number: 14737 Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 12:51:49 -0400 (EDT) From: Ruthanna R Gordon <> Subject: Thawing the Cold Equation <On Thu, 19 Oct 2000 John Grigg wrote> > > Lee Corbin wrote: > But let me illustrate the moral concern that you have raised > with another story: > > Suppose that in some awful future, the last truck leaving Phoenix > has room for only four dewars. But there still remain five frozen > patients who need rescue. Who should be left behind? The most > recently signed up? The eldest? The youngest? > > The correct answer to this question, is, WE WILL FIND A WAY TO > TAKE ALL FIVE. PERIOD. > > (In the same way, I would find a way to keep as many instantiations > of myself alive as I could.) > (end) > > Lee, ever read the tragic science fiction shortstory called "The Cold > Equation" which gave no way out but one for a horrific situation? I > recommend it to everyone. As do I. It's a brilliant literature. The writer's moral, that nature is unforgiving and sometimes you just don't have a choice, makes for wonderful tragedy. The real moral is that nature is unforgiving, and *if you don't plan ahead for it* sometimes you just don't have a choice. The government backgrounding the story could have made contingency plans or spent a bit of extra money and saved the whole situation. Of course, that would have made a lousy story. Since we don't live in a story or a moral parable ourselves, I'd like to ask: what sort of evacuation plans *do* the various cryonics organizations have? Do we have enough trucks? I can't find the answer on the Alcor or CI sites, and I think other people besides myself might be curious. Long Life, Ruthanna Gordon Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=14737