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

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