X-Message-Number: 1827
Date: 25 Feb 93 17:38:41 EST
From: Clarissa Wells <>
Subject: CRYONICS Ethics

To: >INTERNET:

I am not quite sure what I expected when I started participating here, but it 
seems cryonics is a smaller community than most people realize. As a result, 
one person (in this case, me!) can be more visible than anyone would expect. I 
have received several letters from people asking me "who I am," as if I am the 
first newcomer to enter this field in years. I don't quite know what to make 
of it all. Perhaps the explanation is really very simple: people are writing 
to me because females in cryonics are few and far between! In that case, even 
though it may leave me with an empty electronic mailbox, I have to say I am 
happily married. Where professional details are concerned, I can say that I 
teach in the English department at a university in the Eastern states, but I 
am reluctant to go into more details because I don't know how my colleagues 
would react if they knew of my interest here, and I don't want to waste time 
worrying about that. However, I do hope I may attend the cryonics conference 
being organized in California later this year. 

Mr. Henson makes a remark in his most recent letter than I find quite 
disconcerting. He says, "ethical concerns can support *both* sides of many 
arguments, and decisions made on a simple ethical basis sometimes have rather 
adverse effects." 

Mr. Henson seems to be saying that where ethics are concerned, he just doesn't 
like to commit himself. When you think about it, this is really quite a 
surprising thing for ANYONE to say. Does it mean he reserves the right to lie 
or cheat if it suits him, or at least, if it seems likely to advance the cause 
of cryonics? This is a serious question, because I really can't find anything 
in Mr. Henson's letter that tells me what he BELIEVES in. Consider the way he 
phrases his two sentences above. They are in the passive voice. Neither of 
them comes right out and says, "I feel this," or, "My opinion is that." And 
the same is true for most of Mr. Henson's letter. 

Mr. Henson presents himself as a simple engineer, as if engineers are exempt 
from ethics. But I have known engineers who cared very deeply about various 
issues. For instance, I know an engineer who refuses to design weapons. And in 
any case, Mr. Henson is not just an engineer, but a health-care worker. As I 
pointed out before, if a person with the awesome responsibilities of a health 
care worker does not follow a strict code of ethics, how can anyone truly 
trust that person? 

Does Mr. Henson deeply believe in anything, other than his own survival via 
cryonics? I realize this is rather an impertinent question, and he should feel 
quite within his rights to ignore it. In fact I am surprised he has already 
wasted so much of his time dealing with my impertinent questions. On the other 
hand, as a director of Alcor, he does have a hand in decisions that may affect 
people's lives, if we accept the proposition that cryonics may work. 

One last point. I complained that he argued by making innuendos, in a previous 
letter, where he hinted darkly at something someone had done, without going 
into any details. His reply: "I do not have "court of law" grade proof of what 
happened. As a result, I have been careful not to identify the "former member" 
even to their sex. I can't go into more details without exposing myself (and 
possibly Alcor) to liability." 

Mr. Henson, I think this is not quite accurate. I get the idea that it's not 
just legal liability that worries you, but ALL kinds of liability. I think 
this is why you prefer not to name your sources or your enemies, and it's why 
you prefer not to say what you deeply care about: because that way, no one can 
pin you down, and no one can refute you. 

                              Yours sincerely 
                              Clarissa Wells 

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