X-Message-Number: 15425
From: "Jeff Grimes" <>
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 21:22:16 -0700
Subject: Truly Amazing Email


I have received three interesting personal emails, in response to my posts on 
CryoNet. Two of them provide additional info, about CI and about procedures used
elsewhere. Unfortunately I don't have time to go into all this now, but maybe 
tomorrow.


In the meantime, without mentioning the name of the sender, I received a truly 
amazing email on the general subject of research. Here's the most important 
statement:


"Personally, I would be perfectly happy with a straight freeze.  The primary 
concern I have is to cool the body rapidly and even this may not be all that 
critical.  All this 'cryoprotectant' stuff will probably prove to be a waste by 
the time we are at the place where resuscitation becomes possible."


Well, I wish I could feel this way, because it would be so reassuring if we 
don't need to do much except wait for future science to fix everything.


The trouble is, the writer is seeing himself as totally separate from the 
future. This is not the case. The future GROWS out of the PRESENT. If everyone 
basically said, "Why worry, future science will take care of everything," future
science would never happen. It's up to us to make it happen, if we care.


Here's another thought. I would tend to think that when those people of the 
future decide who is worth resuscitating and who is not worth bothering with, 
they'll be likely to choose the people who accepted their responsibility instead
of just taking it easy and saying "Why worry?"


Think about it. If you could resuscitate someone from the PAST, right now, would
you want a brilliant hard-working scientist, or some drone who just said, "Oh, 
I don't need to do anything, those scientists will take care of it all."


Of course it's possible that the future scientists WILL take care of everything,
but I dunno if I would bet my life on that.

Jeff Grimes.

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