X-Message-Number: 18378
From: 
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 20:01:43 EST
Subject: Bravo to Lemler and Ettinger, etc, on CryoSummit "Coopetition"!

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In a message dated 01/19/2002 5:00:54 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
 writes:


> 
>     Finally, following mutual complimentary Cryonet postings, Bob Ettinger
> and I have opened a personal communications dialogue.  We have been joined
> by ACS President Edgar Swank, the end result of which has been an
> acceptance of my call for a CryoSummit this summer in Michigan involving
> all three (and possibly a fourth) of our organizations sending delegations
> to convene in discussing a mutually prepared agenda, hopefully resulting in
> the formation of alliances to strengthen our individual organizations as
> well as the cryonics movement as a whole.
> 
> 
Rudi Hoffman writing:
The above represents an excellent start by Jerry Lemler, Bob Ettinger, Edgar 
Swank, and potentially others to create a more unified cryonics movement. 
 
This, along with the 900 pound gorilla of Bill Falloon's efforts, creativity, 
and monetary contributions, has the potential to be lifesaving for all of us 
involved with cryonics.
 
Obviously, "The devil is always in the details."  
It is one thing to get Lemler and Ettinger in a room agreeing that they like 
each other and both support the general theory of cryonics and 
nanotechnology.  

But to hammer out details of cooperation and competition may not be easy.  
Some of you may be aware of a great word, and concept, made popular by the 
technology wave of the last decade.  The word is "COOPETITION". 
 
Coopetition, as the name implies, involves the mutually beneficial 
interaction between competitors.  It happens all the time in high tech 
industries.  Communication standards, details of interoperability, pricing 
agreements, etc., all require folks who directly compete with each other to 
cooperate.  Sometimes, due to personal histories, they don't like or even 
fervently hate each other, but cooperation is still vital.  Since all of us 
are still on the "sinking lifeboat" of tragically short lives, we must also 
cooperate.
THE BIG TENT?
One advantage we have now that we have not had in the past is the exciting 
consensus building, "big tent" orientation that Dr. Lemler brings to the 
table.  Plus, he is not burdened with decades of alleged slights, bad faith 
dealings, personality issues, and the rest of the issues that have made 
interagency cooperation so elusive.  As many of you know, the cryonics 
movement to date has been like a family...a sometimes dysfunctional family.  
If you don't know this through personal anecdotes or reading Cryonet over the 
years, may I suggest you enjoy the bliss of ignorance for as long as 
possible.

 Many of you reading this have become veterans of the Cryonics Wars.  The 
nature of this business is that it attracts opinionated individualists.  Some 
who are less kind might say that we have a disproportionate percentages of 
"real assholes" in cryonics, but I personally would not agree.  There are 
realities at the current level of this technology that make for serious 
disagreements, not of style but of substance, about what constitutes a "good 
cryopreservation."  
CRYONICS IN THE SUNSHINE

As we move toward this summit, may I suggest that at least part of the agenda 
be planned in the "sunshine" of cryonet.  The nitty gritty details like 
pricing structure, insurance details, procedures, medical protocols, 
geography and timing issues, etc. NEED to be addressed in this OPEN FORUM.

I am not suggesting that all negotiations be required to be public.  I am 
saying that the level of honesty, candor, detail, and self-disclosure that we 
see coming each week at "This week at ALCOR" is an outstanding example of 
everyone "playing with their cards on the table."  A wonderful thing for 
cryonics, and for science.  
THESE ARE STILL EARLY DAYS

You and I, friends, should be SO PROUD to be a part of this nascent movement 
at this still EARLY time in our history.  We are PIONEERS in the unexplored 
territory of beating DEATH.  The old, tired mythologies of our predecessors 
are unacceptable to us.  The single enemy that each of us as human beings 
faces is the specter of the grim reaper looming on the near horizon, be it a 
mere 20 or 50 or 70 years away.  

Thanks for reading.  Sorry for the length of this post.  I am going to go pop 
some more of Bill Falloon's Life Extension Vitamins now.  

Warmly,

Rudi Hoffman
Member Financial Planner's Association, Certified Planner
Member ALCOR Life Extension Foundation
Member Libertarian Party    
Member National Rifle Association
Member Extropy Foundation
Board Member Port Orange Chamber of Commerce
Board Member Daytona Salvation Army

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