X-Message-Number: 19722 Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2002 08:25:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Driven FromThePack <> Subject: Re: Shermer's rationale for smearing cryonics Rudi wrote: >> Michael Shermer understands and KNOWS that most cryonic suspensions are paid with Life insurance, for the simple reason that I discussed this with him DIRECTLY at a skeptics conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 1997! Yet he made no reference to this knowledge. Instead he took the low road, grouping us with UFO nuts and lunatic fringers. >>> Maybe he also understands and KNOWS exactly what the reporter is looking for in a quote from him, and his replies are cynically calculated in order to maximize his chances of getting into print. He goes over the top, knowing that such a quote is more likely to get into print. I could see this effect in the news story where both Storey and Shermer were quoted: their quotes were maybe the most vituperative I have seen; it almost seemed as if they were competing to see who could be more comtempuous, maybe knowing that any sort of wishy-washy quote would not get into print. Maybe Shermer really doesn't care one way or the other about cryonics and whether it works, and he is just playing to his core audience--those who buy his magazine. Maybe most of his subscribers just LIKE to see debunking in general. They get a thrill out of it. To quote Louisians folklore, cryonics is the ultimate crayfish crawling out of the ultimate bucket. And Shermer sells magazines to those crayfish that want to pull any ambitious crayfish back into the bucket. I guess this desire is some variant of schaudenfreude (sp?) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs http://www.hotjobs.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=19722