X-Message-Number: 33366
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2011 12:10:49 -0800 (PST)
From: Luke Parrish <>
Subject: Secret societies?

> Recently, remarks have been made, in regard to Mr. Darwin wanting to
> make cryonics some sort of "secret society." Why might that be? Does
> he want cryonics organizations to live up to their reputation as
> being cult-like?

Oddly enough, Mike Darwin hasn't actually said he wants to make
cryonics some sort of secret society. He stated rather that certain
kinds of secret societies are "arguably" a better model for how
an endeavor like this could be achieved realistically than
laissez-faire consumerist capitalism.

He has also registered complaints to the effect that those in
charge of regulating medicine (and indeed most members of the
culture at large) simply do not have a solid grasp on the ethics
of the situation where cryonics is concerned. It is of course clear
to most that cryonics needs "regulation", i.e. professional rules
of conduct that customers can count on being adhered to. The debate
(if one can call it that) seems to be whether the rules should be
self-imposed in some fashion, or externally imposed by persons with
no interest in the success of the endeavor.

I like Mike's proposal of setting up cameras and videotaping
everything that goes on in cryonics -- a strategy which he labels
"Prosthetic Nocioception". I don't think these recordings should be
made publicly available as a matter of course, as there is known to
be a tendency among certain individuals to distort and misrepresent
everything they hear about cryonics for maximum shock value. The
purpose of videotaping everything, like that of producing highly
detailed case reports, would be for those who do have a legitimate
interest in building up the quality of cryonics care (who also
have relevant expertise from related fields) to be able to offer
constructive criticism, on a professional, not political level.
It would also be likely to deter carelessness in the first place
and provide better opportunities for self-evaluation on the part
of staff and organizers.

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