X-Message-Number: 2859 Subject: CRYONICS Surgery and Business From: (Ben Best) Date: Fri, 8 Jul 1994 00:58:00 -0400 I may have been wrong in expressing "doubts that any non-cryonicist would make a good surgeon for cryopreservation procedures". I don't mean to treat people as "labels", I don't mean to ignore the complexity of human motives, and I think I may have been unduly influenced by the things I have heard about "Dr. X". But it still seems to me that there is a difference between a noncryonicist repairing an air conditioner (or even suggesting the use of industrial hose clamps) -- and doing cryopreservation surgery. In the former case a craftsperson's pride can be taken in an operative mechanical device. But in the latter case the results may not be evident in hundreds of years (if ever). One of the stories I have heard about "Dr. X" is that when someone pointed-out a bit of negligence on his part he said something like "Oh well, it's only a corpse, anyway." I can imagine that other noncryonicist surgeons might be different. But I also try to imagine the psychological state of a competent and integral surgeon who believes that cryonics is folly. Will this person take pride in a job well done? Or would a person of true integrity not have qualms about taking money from fools or about pandering to their delusions? There is a difference between doing dental work for a living cryonicist and doing surgery on a corpse for people who think the surgery is going to help the corpse to rise from the dead. I am now less sure of my assertion, but I still think I would prefer a surgeon who believes that the procedure could be life-saving. I can believe that committed cryonicists could "do sloppy, half-assed jobs in equally critical areas". I have already disavowed that cryonicist=competent (necessarily). And it may even be true that there are cryonicists who believe that a sloppy job is adequate because nanotechnology will fix everything. Cryonicists are often opinionated and passionate, so it is not hard for me to imagine them often being difficult to work with. I have heard that libraries are reluctant to make too much use of volunteers, because volunteers are too undependable. Paid workers are under contract to work defined hours and do defined work. But how does a paid noncryonicist compare with a paid cryonicist? Few people could have been paid to work as diligently and determinedly as I have for cryonics in the last 5 years. Moreover, I have paid through the nose for the work I have done. My reward has primarily been a craftsperson's pride in having accomplished things that may well contribute to extending my life and the lives of others I care about. Thomas Donaldson says that there is not enough profitability for cryonics to survive when money is the only motive. But the situation with Michael Soloviov is more complicated. He appears to be sincere about wanting cryonics for himself, and he also believes that a profitable cryonics company can be started in Russia. I have seen one of his business plans. Costs in Russia are so low that he could easily make a huge (relatively speaking) profit by offering cryonics services at a much lower price than is charged by any American cryonics organization. But even if cryonics is not profitable, it may take several years (and perhaps a few cryonics patients) for a proprietor to come to that conclusion. No existing cryonics organization is a sole proprietorship. I would be extremely reluctant to make cryopreservation arrangements with a sole proprietorship. Will the patient care funds be adequately separated from the profits (or the losses!)? What if the proprietor gets discouraged in a few years? What if the proprietor dies or becomes seriously ill? What if someone makes the proprietor an offer to buy that is VERY profitable? It is not my intention to dogmatically espouse a position on the questions I have raised. The issues are far too complex. Nonetheless, I have some strong suspicions, along with doubts and concerns. -- Ben Best (ben.best%) Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=2859