X-Message-Number: 24685
From: 
Subject: To Joe Waynick and others interested
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 02:56:41 US/Eastern

   Joe,

   I want you to know how very upset I have felt about the exchange between
you and Robert Ettinger on CryoNet during the last few days. I had high
hopes of developing a good working relationship with you and my hopes
have taken a real beating. 

   Robert Ettinger is correct when he says that he does not speak for CI.
I will add that he does not speak for me -- and also add that I am not 
speaking for CI, but am speaking for myself. I believe that Bob has
been incendiary in some of his remarks and has fanned the flames of 
mutual recrimination. Sadly, I have seen you get caught-up in this
mutual recrimination. It is sad because I very much want for good relations 
between us. 

   Although I am President of the Cryonics Institute, I despise organizational
partisanship in cryonics. I am sick and tired of the way cryonicists have 
exhausted their energies fighting each other -- when those energies are so
preciously needed to further cryonics and our mutual survival. There was a
spirit of good will & cooperation during the CryoSummit which failed to 
take root, to my regret. 

   Despite years of conflict and incidents involving the locking of horns, I am
pleased to say that there are few cryonicists in any organization that I feel
much hostility towards. I like to think that I have warm & friendly relations

with most -- if not all -- of the people I know at Alcor. I can't think of any 
of 
the Alcor staff for whom I feel any dislike. 

    Robert Ettinger made a statement which I wholeheartedly support. Namely,

the invitation for you to state specific modifications you would like to see 
made

to text in the CI website. I have written very little of the text on the CI 
website.
I have seen things I dislike. I dislike the concept of a comparisons page. Even
if there was provocation behind its production, I think it fosters mutual
recrimination.

   In my first year as President I have not made it a priority to attempt to 
re-write CI web pages (with a couple of exceptions). I think that my time 
is better spent trying to improve CI operations and patient care -- and I am

disinclined to take actions which might instigate counter-productive infighting.
But if there are specific passages which you find particularly offensive I will
see what I can do to rectify the situation -- assuming this will not swamp 
my time or produce too much internal conflict at CI. My time & energy is
limited and I seem to be engaged in on-going triage. 

    I have personally written almost everything on my own website 
(http://www.benbest.com/) and am interested in your comment that
some of the pages "heavily promote the CI perspective of cryonics" -- 
with the implication that this means an anti-Alcor persepective. I can't
believe that I express such a thing on my website. I mean no irony or
sarcasm when I request that you give me a specific reference to the
text you refer to. If nothing else, at least tell me the links. I admit that
I have spent very little time on the Alcor website. 

    Again, it has been a goal of mine to improve relations between the
cryonics organizations and it genuinely upsets me to see this bitterness
and conflict. I am above all a cryonicist rather than a partisan. I cannot
purge every grain of competitiveness from my nature, but seeing this
fighting increases my resolve to increase my efforts.  

                  -- Ben Best

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