X-Message-Number: 19381 Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 08:14:47 -0400 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: CryoNet #19377 - #19380 HI everyone! This is my reply to Brett Bellmore: I believe that I did know perfectly well what you were saying: that most people would not accept cryonics until we could show that at least some mammal could be suspended and brought back. And I hope I made clear what MY sense of the problem was. So now, we have everyone believing that someone (healthy) who is suspended can be brought back. If they still believe that their medical condition is incurable (or for that matter, that age is incurable) then why should they bother to be suspended in the first place? What do you gain from suspension if you now have an "incurable" condition. Sure, if doctors tell someone that a cure will exist in 5 years time (not that this often happens) then such a person may be willing to be suspended. But usually it isn't even that clear. (Think about Alzheimer's, currently the subject of intensive research). When you think of all the conditions we might have, the concept that they can be cured (Yes, guys, we'll cure your mother's Alzheimer's) is just as hard as the notion that the damage due to present suspension can be cured. For that matter, most people don't know about the consequences of either condition, they only go out and accept the judgement of others. The real difference between cryonics and ordinary medical thought comes not from the feeling that fixing someone formerly frozen will be impossible, but the failure to understand the basic concept behind cryonics. That basic concept is that EVERY KNOWN DISEASE OR CONDITION will be someday curable (including, of course, the consequence of suspension itself). And it's only if you believe that that you will even see the merits of suspension itself. Best wishes and long long life for all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=19381