X-Message-Number: 19248
From: 
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 13:51:07 EDT
Subject: Re: CryoNet #19211 - #19221

Congratulations to George Smith for hitting the nail on the head when it 
comes to doomsdayer nonsense about the supply of oil along with all the other 
so-called 'limits of growth', liberal and environmentalist gospel for the 
last 20 years.  Of course, their original projections forecast a future ice 
age, not warming, but that was somehow too counter-intuitive so they reversed 
themselves on the flimsiest wobbly climate data, ignoring statistical 
reliability and natural variance, not to mention such obvious non-human 
sources of variance such as sun spot activity and volcanic activity which 
usually overwhelm human input by orders of magnitude.  This is not science 
but really junk science supported by polls of 'scientists' , even 
distinguished arrays of Nobelists, who usually have nothing to do with the 
specialties of relevance to the question at hand. For an eye-opening review 
of all this doomsday 'science' stuff, read the late great Julian L. Simon's 
The Ultimate Source 2 [Princeton U Press, 1996].  Believe it or not, fellow 
cryonauts, this is not at all off topic.  Doomsday think promoted by many 
people with scientific qualifications who should know better, aided and 
abetted, may I say, by most science fiction writers who continously trash the 
future for fun and profit, is a huge drag on cryonics promotion.  How often 
do you hear your friends say "where will we put all the people?" or "how will 
we support everyboby when we know resources are limited and running out?" and 
"what will be left for future generations?" or perhaps most often and most 
stupidly, "Why would I want to live in the future?" [implicitly adding, "when 
global warming will have caused the oceans to flood over the whole earth, 
when we can't breath the air or drink the water, or feed ourselves."]  To me 
this is all truly catastrophic nonsense.  It is also an utterly false 
conception of where we are really headed based on a very poorly informed 
conception of where we are now, and a ridiculously idolized view of where we 
were and what life was like 100, 200, or 2,000 years ago.  Cryonicists will 
have to fight hard to overcome these perceptions and mind-sets, perhaps in 
some cases allying ourselves with others who we find somewhat strange 
bedfellows.   Can I retain my sanity when I agree with the unelected Texas 
simpleton that the Kyoto Treaty is a bunch of crap foisted on unsuspecting 
political leaders by an army of ideologically tainted environment 
'scientists?' How do we fight back against this most destructive form of 
political correctness? Any ideas?
Ron Havelock, CI member

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