X-Message-Number: 30915
From: 
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 17:51:21 EDT
Subject: Mark Plus on Darwin's talk

Thanks to Mark Plus for his review of Mike Darwin's recent talk. What I  

don't see is a bottom line--specific suggestions for improvements in the  
cryonics 
organizations. 
 
Mike has made many specific suggestions in the past, including the  

relatively recent past, including some specific to the Cryonics Institute, and  
Ben 
Best has dealt with these according to his judgment and that of the Board of  

Directors. The organizations themselves are constantly reviewing procedures and
trying to optimize them as resources permit. The recent talk however, as it  
appears to me from the Mark Plus review, lacked specific recommendations, or  

even general ones, unless you count "insurgency" and "relieve the burden on the
 future."
 
As to the latter, this is just another way of saying we should do our best  

to improve ourselves in all areas, and certainly that effort is being made. How
 to do it better is the question.
 
As to "insurgency"--the notion that we should have presented or should now  
present cryonics as a revolution requiring that people jettison most of their  
beliefs and commitments--that to my mind is simply absurd as a practical  
matter. 
 
On a minor note, Mark said that Mike said that one of the negatives for  
cryonics is the absence of closure after bereavement, as well as survivor's  

guilt. I don't think so. People differ of course, and we don't have scientific
studies on the subject, but those who freeze their relatives gain hope and a  

sense of duty done, and would feel guilty if they failed to provide this chance.
For myself, while the pain of bereavement is not eradicated by any means 
through  cryonics, it is indeed mitigated. 
 
Robert Ettinger



**************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? 
Read reviews on AOL Autos.      

(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 
)


 Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"

[ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] 

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=30915