X-Message-Number: 26787 Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2005 13:47:53 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Davis <> Subject: Please, it's not suicide! Cryofolk, Please try to avoid use of the term "suicide" when referring to the deliberate, self-initiated suspension of biochemical activity for the purpose of and as the first step in cryogenic preservation and long term storage(cryonic suspension). Please try to find another term and use it consistently. Doing so routinely will help to memetically de-wacko-ize the perception of cryonics. Sophisticated techniques of persuasion are all well and good, but consider the tried and true low-tech approach of deliberate and consistent repetition. Eventually, cryonic suspension will be accepted as a medical procedure, comparable to pre-operative anesthesia, implemented to professional standards by professionals, as directed by the patient or other competent authority. Suicide is 'default' terminology, and carries with it substantial negative baggage. First among these is the pain, desperation, and despair which makes "suicide" a decision coerced--not chosen--by torture. Then, of course the intention is to die--as in permanently ended, irretrievably gone, irreversibly oblivionized. Cryonics and the intentions of cryonicists are precisely the opposite: the optimism of life, the maintenance or restoration of health, and the eventual nullification of death. It's not suicide. Best, Jeff Davis "We need to remind people that `aging' is just the traditional word contingently associated with physical decay due to the breakdown of cellular maintenance mechanisms, accumulated unrepaired damage, etc." Damien Broderick __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26787