X-Message-Number: 22816
From: "Aschwin de Wolf" <amwdewolf@singularitypress.com>
References: <20031109100001.60759.qmail@rho.pair.com>
Subject: self-regulation / cryonics activism
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 22:52:09 -0500

> Now what you really need to understand is
> that the nature of government itself (whether democratic or not) is at
> the very heart of the problem and that it is this method of social
> structure and organization which must be changed if any solution to the
> problem is to be accomplished in a stable and enduring fashion.

To get a more detailed understanding of the cryonics protocol I read a lot
of suspension cases over the last few days and it's very disturbing how
often less than optimal suspensions are the result of government regulation.
Having said that we should be careful not to adopt a confrontational
approach. The majority of people still prefer "rule of the people" to
self-rule.

If the government tells cryonics providers that they want to regulate
cryonics to protect consumers we should ask them what they exactly mean
because if they want to insure that customers of cryonics get the service
they desire (instead of "snake oil") we can supply them with a detailed list
of how federal and local regulations actually stand in the way and present
them
with workable alternatives.

I agree that we should seriously consider "regulating" ourselves before the
government does it. Charles Platt writes that "there is absolutely no sign
of any inclination among cryonics organizations to reach a consensus on
minimally acceptable procedures". That's very unfortunate because
having a standards body or trade organization should be priority number ONE
for the cryonics community.

And last but not least, what happed to the idea of establishing a
(worldwide) cryonics (advocacy) organization like the "World Transhumanist
Assocation" or the "World Federation of Right to Die Societies". There are
a lot of people who have a lot of sympathy for what we do but are not signed
up
for cryonics. How do we mobilize these people?

We also know that many serious scientists, medical professionals and
academics
are suspension members or at least sympathetic to the idea of cryonics and
extreme life extension. Why not write an open letter to the press? It's hard
to see
how this cannot help us.

Of course, this is not intented as a list of things that that *other* people
should do. I am willing to help to bring these ideas to fruitation of
course.

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