X-Message-Number: 2550
Subject: Hi Temp CRYONICS Wrap-up
From:	 (Ben Best)
Date:	Thu, 13 Jan 1994 22:06:00 -0500


 [This is a close re-send of a message I sent two days ago, but
which was apparently lost -- or, at least, I haven't seen it sent
back as a CRYONET message]

    I must congratulate Mike Darwin for the speed, deftness and
brilliance of his reply to my last posting. "Congratulate"
understates my response, because I am actually somewhat in awe.

    Although I am pleased with the consequences of having posted
Douglas Skrecky's article, I want to stress that the ONLY reason I
did it was because Steve Bridge asked me to. But then Steve adroitly
stepped aside, and I suddenly discovered egg in my face. I'd almost
think that Steve asked me to send Skrecky's article to Greg Fahy
just to affirm Greg's impression that I am a dolt, but I know that
is not the case.

    Steve requested posting of Douglas Skrecky's article so that the
ideas could be discussed. Such posting is appropriate for a *FORUM*,
not a *FORMAL JOURNAL*. I regard CryoNet and CANADIAN CRYONICS NEWS as
forums -- places for discussion. It is not irresponsible to present
half-baked ideas in a forum -- we must have a place to thrash these
things out. Saying that an idea is WRONG is quite different from saying
that it is IRRESPONSIBLE to express that idea. I recognize the problems
and paradoxes presented when a forum becomes so large as to become a
public platform, and I have no easy solution. I acknowledge that we, as
cryonicists, must be more careful than others to appear as scientists,
rather than cranks. "There are no easy answers."

   Douglas Skrecky is not such an idiot as Mike may believe. Douglas
is very aware of the superiority of trehalose to sucrose, but chose
sucrose for reasons of economy. He was not aware of the nephrotoxicity
of sucrose -- which is, after all, a very recent discovery by
Biopreservation. Anyway, any adequate future reanimation technology
could surely replace a damaged kidney.

   To Thomas Donaldson, I want to say that the survival of a city and
the survival of a business are very different things. MOST businesses
fail within a few years. It is expecting a great deal for a risk-prone
venture like cryonics to produce organizations that last 100 years,
especially given the volatile nature of the people who are drawn to
these organizations.

                 -- Ben Best (ben.best%)

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