X-Message-Number: 23501 Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 10:30:48 -0500 From: "Raphael T. Haftka" <> Subject: We are lucky References: <> Some humility will not hurt >The recent discussions of why other people do not see cryonics our way, and the current problems with regulating cryonics remind me again that we have a misguided superior attitude towards the "unenlightened" rest of the world. In fact, it is very reasonable for rational people to dismiss apparently hair brained schemes with every excuse they can find rather than consider them seriously. There are lots of such schemes out there, and if you make the mistake of listening and weighing carefully each one, you will waste a lot of time, and you are likely to fall prey to some of them. After all, many intelligent people do. Schemes to cheat death have abounded all through history (quest for fountain of youth, miracle drugs), and so another death-cheating scheme is immediately suspect. If Cryonics is indeed a good way to go (and I think it is), we cryonicists are probably lucky that we stumbled onto it in a receptive moment. I know that it feels good to pat ourselves on the shoulder and claim that it is our superior intelligence, character, or some other virtue that is responsible for our choice of cryonics. However, I like to remind myself that there are probably several cryobiologists, who know more about the subject than I do, who are more intelligent than I am, and who still reject cryonics. Hence my claim that there is a lot of luck involved in our choice. Once we accept that the rest of the world is not totally misguided in rejecting cryonics, we may want to stop fighting regulation by regulatory agencies that deal with cemeteries or funeral homes. I like to tell people that cryonics does for me what religion does for most people: lessen my apprehension about dying. I find that once I present it in this light, most people are sympathetic rather than critical. Most religions promise you a chance for an after life, as we do. I have known enough priests, ministers, and rabbis, to tell that many of them actually believe that their religions will deliver. Rafi Haftka Raphael (Rafi) Haftka, Distinguished Professor University of Florida phone:352-392-9595 Department of Mechanical and fax: -7303 Aerospace Engineering, www.mae.ufl.edu/~haftka Gainesville, FL 32611-6250 Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=23501