X-Message-Number: 3866
From:  (Thomas Donaldson)
Subject: Re: CryoNet #3859 - #3860
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 17:03:07 -0800 (PST)



Hi!

That's a hard one. Even though Ettinger's book became available then, that 
wasn't when it was taken up by a major publisher and spread throughout the
world. I can't claim to KNOW, but from my conversation with him he felt 
more that cryonics was inspired by his experiment rather than the other way
round ... not that he believed in cryonics himself. (Remember, he's Japanese
and won't even normally read magazines and books from the English-speaking
world).

We did discuss his retiring in Australia. He believed, as many Japanese may
even now believe, that Asians aren't welcome there (there was a Japanese
mathematician at ANU at the time). I explained why and how that was not true,
but nothing ever came of it. I got an "omiyage" (a very minor gift which 
turned out to be a handkerchief) from him as a remembrance of my visit, and
I certainly wasn't thrown out unceremoniously, but he showed no sign of 
actually believing in the worth of cryonics as a real, concrete act: just one
of the consequences of his experiment, for bemusements sake.

			Long long life,

				Thomas



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