X-Message-Number: 28789
Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 12:56:52 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: bravery and foolishness

Steve Bridge writes, "I admire Kennita's brave attempt to
swim against the tide and inject real cryonics information
into the party."

Fighting a very important battle against great odds, in the
defense of something very valuable, is a brave act. Wasting
time, exposing yourself to ridicule, and risking the
reputation of a field which is easily damaged, are acts of
foolishness.

As I recall, the frozen bodies in Nederland, Colorado were
mentioned by at least one Arizona state representative when
Alcor was under scrutiny. There is nothing to be achieved by
reaffirming any link between cryonics and the "amateur
freezing initiative" that occurred there, with predictably
miserable results.

Steve continues: "I do not know whether it is *practical* or
not, but I like that she does it.  Swimming against the tide
is the essence of cryonics -- at least for the past 30 years.
We can hope it will change eventually."

Marginal ventures have to be practical, otherwise they will
fail. The odds against cryonics are bad enough already
without someone risking making them worse.

More to the point, swimming against the tide is no virtue if
you can choose an easier path. Human and other resources are
so scarce and valuable in this field, they should be
carefully targeted where they have the greatest chance of
paying off. This means picking the low-hanging fruit. Public
appearances are best made in front of groups which are more
likely to be predisposed toward cryonics. This is so utterly
basic, I feel stupid spelling it out. But it's like buying a
mailing list. You don't buy the mailing list for "Mad"
magazine, to sell cryonics; you think more in terms of,
maybe, "Reason," the libertarian magazine, since we know that
cryonics appeals disproportionately to libertarians. You
begin close to home and work gradually outward.

Moreover I suggest that it is actually much more challenging
to try to promote cryonics in front of smart, focused people
who are likely to be seriously interested in it, because
they're going to ask some very sharp questions. (My one hour
presenting cryonics to a room full of dotcom founders,
including Jeff Bezos, was one of the toughest in my life.)
Going to Frozen Dead Guy Days and giving out cryonics
literature is not just foolish, it's also very easy. No one
at the festival is going to take the idea seriously, so the
worst that can happen to an activist is that you'll be
ignored. I have no doubt that Kennita had a good time in
Colorado. I see nothing brave about that.

I am more sympathetic to Despres because I think he may be
too quirky, misguided, or crazy to understand what he is
doing wrong. I think he could easily be exonerated with an
insanity plea. Kennita is smart enough and, perhaps, sane
enough to know better.

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