X-Message-Number: 2301 Subject: CRYONICS research From: (Charles Platt) Date: Mon, 07 Jun 93 01:22:20 EDT I strongly disagree that investing in 21st Century Medicine is equivalent to a charitable donation. A charitable donation is usually understood to be money for other people who are less fortunate than oneself. Putting money into 21st Century Medicine is presumably done in the hope of benefiting one's own self. I've been very interested (and somewhat discouraged) by the amount of quibbling and equivocation I have heard, from more than one source, re the share offering from 21st. It isn't profit oriented enough, it wasn't done professionally enough, the research should be focused on THIS instead of THAT ... and so on. During the short time I have been in cryonics (about two years) the one topic on which everyone has agreed is that we need more research into ALL relevant areas. Now we see a group of people, who are better qualified, in my opinion, than anyone else in the world to pursue some of the goals they have chosen, and they have come up with the necessary manpower and equipment to actually DO SOMETHING, and all I hear is the sound of nitpicking. I am aware of some deficiencies in the offering. I think it could stress the potential for profit more than it does. But is that really sufficient grounds for turning away with a shrug and offering no support? I feel almost as if the ill will that was created last year has cast a lingering negativity over everything and everyone, to the point where no one even wants to believe that some area of cryonics might offer real hope. Do we feel so betrayed (because one aspect of cryonics failed to live up to our ideals) that we're now determined not to get "fooled again"? Or what? Seems to me, if a bunch of talented, highly qualified people dedicate themselves to solving problems of vital importance to all of us, and they are ready to do this for very little money, they deserve our enthusiastic support. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=2301