X-Message-Number: 4201
From: 
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 1995 11:26:09 -0400
Subject: tact

Will Dye (Cryonet #4193) suggested that we shouldn't make enemies
unnecessarily, e.g. by attacking religion, and in particular that I shouldn't
attack Goedel in a book on cryonics.

This makes generally good sense, but there are some possible qualifiers:

First, the book in progress is not  about cryonics, which has only minor
mention. It is intended to build a scientific philosophy of life from the
ground up--something that has never been done before.  In this context, it is
difficult to avoid the topics of religion and Goedel; but tactful  phrasing
can perhaps minimize any adverse effect.

Second--even in a cryonics context--one can weigh positive against negative
effects. Certainly we don't want to inflame people who don't agree with us,
but the case can be made that it is more important to sign up another recruit
than to avoid making a hundred intransigent skeptics grumble. 

People do not always sign up--or fail to sign up--for the right reasons.
Sometimes they just feel (or fail to feel) a kindred spirit. This is one
reason we need to do more socializing. To put it crudely, sometimes--like any
salesmen--we have to pander to the person to a certain extent, as long as
there is no dishonesty. But certainly we should restrict to private
conversation any opinions more likely to make enemies than converts.

R.C.W. Ettinger


Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=4201