X-Message-Number: 1890
From:  (Thomas Donaldson)
Subject: Re: cryonics: #1873-#1880
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 93 21:56:52 PST



To Steve Harris and Mike Darwin:

I believe you have both read my previous posting to Clarissa. Steve's recent
piece got me thinking a bit more about how to handle the moral problem. 

Perhaps the thing to do is to recognize that someday we may really find
a member who isn't just unpleasant but actually threatens the organization by
being a member--- but rather than try to work out detailed criteria, it may
be better to simply leave the matter at that point. The trouble with detailed
criteria is that when the actual case comes up, it may well not fit them at
all. It is hard to encompass reality, with all its unpredictability, especially
the reality that consists of human conduct, with a small number of rules.

How do we tell just who should be excluded? (Remember, I'm coming from a 
position in which refusing to suspend a member is an awful thing to do; when
I said I sympathized with Clarissa's position I meant it). We tell who should
be excluded because when and if such an event ever happens, WE WILL ALL KNOW
THAT IT HAS HAPPENED, and WE WILL ALL KNOW THE CHOICE WE ARE FACING.

As I said before, it is the nature of the real world that it constantly 
presents us with hard choices. But cryonicists least of all should not say
they will never do this: never is a very long time, and how long do we want 
to live, anyway? The longer we live the more hard choices we'll someday 
discover, right there in front of us blocking our way.
				Best, and long life,
				   Thomas Donaldson

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