X-Message-Number: 1797 From: (Thomas Donaldson) Subject: Re: cryonics: #1775-#1781 Date: Sun, 21 Feb 93 11:34:31 PST To Mike Darwin: RIGHT ON! My one issue with what you have to say is that of the ULTIMATE repairability of some of the injuries you describe. But no cryonicist should forget that the longer they must remain in suspension, the less likely it is that they will continue in suspension ---- so what is ULTIMATELY possible may only benefit a very small fraction of those suspended, less than 1%. In any practical sense, our difference on this issue makes no difference to our ideas about the importance of research. Why is it riskier and riskier the longer a suspension lasts? Because the world isn't a friendly place. Even with the very best investment advisers possible, vital funds can be unexpectedly lost (not that we can afford the best advisers possible). Accidents happen at every stage of the process. Even one person charged with caring for patients in the time you are suspended can somehow, for perfectly understandable reasons, make a mistake which destroys some or all patients under his/her care. And all that, of course, assumes no active hostility towards us by anyone. It's not necessary to postulate any global catastrophe in order to find ways in which your own personal suspension can fail. Best and long life, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=1797