X-Message-Number: 4035
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 1995 12:17:13 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: Naivety

Perry Metzger accuses Trygve Bauge of being "hopelessly naive." But in my
experience, almost all cryonicists are naive--thinking they will be able
to cheat death and will be allowed to do so. 

I have met only a handful of cryonicists who are, in any real sense,
"worldly." (I do not include myself among them, incidentally.) Moreover,
in many cases the naivety is allied with great stubbornness (natural
enough--you have to be stubborn to reject the preconceptions which
everyone else takes for granted). Naivety and stubbornness can achieve
quite a lot, if you're foolish enough to reject orthodox wisdom and
pigheaded enough to refuse to give up. Historically this has been a useful
combination in (e.g.) inventors. 

Unfortunately, though, the combination occurs even more often in people 
who are simply out of sync with reality. 

Thirty years ago, cryonicists started out in much the same style as Trygve
Bauge, doing it themselves with minimal technology on their home property.
They were naive to think their haphazard approach would work, and
pigheaded in their obstinacy. Since that time, some painful lessons have
been learned by those willing to learn them. Alcor, for instance, has
fought a number of court battles which provided some hard but useful 
lessons for all of us re dealing with bureaucrats. 

The problem with Mr. Bauge (whom I spoke with at length on the phone some 
time ago, when he was seeking money to complete his cryotorium) is that 
he seems unwilling to learn any of these lessons. That attitude has 
already cost him dearly. More to the point, however, by precipitating a 
ludicrous situation (neighbors complaining about dead people stored on 
his property) he threatens everything that has been achieved by cryonics 
over three decades.

Unfortunately, he seems either too naive, or too pigheaded, to recognize 
this. He also seems to have great difficulty even listening to other 
people's points of view--which may be the source of his problems with his 
neighbors in the first place. 

I am glad that so far, this story has not been widely reported. But it
could easily turn into a scandal, and the more he complains publicly about
his "mistreatment," meanwhile also claiming to be a totally rational
individual pursuing cryonics in a sensible fashion, the more likely it
becomes that the story will cause a lot of grief for the rest of us. 

##############################################################
Charles Platt / 1133 Broadway, room 1214 / New York / NY 10010
Phone 212 929 3983     email      fax 212 807 6111

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