X-Message-Number: 6796
From: 
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 12:09:40 -0400
Subject: SCI. CRYONICS spin, balance

Charles Platt (#6783) quotes me indirectly as saying that big money would
"probably be better spent on publicity" [than on the Prometheus Project or
even research in general].

I DID NOT SAY THAT. I don't doubt that he remembers it that way, but this
again illustrates the insidious effects of spin doctoring--sometimes you even
confuse yourself.

Even though I was sure I did not say what he indicates, I checked all recent
messages (he didn't identify the message)--since I have been known to make a
mistake now and then--and found nothing resembling that attribution. 

What I did say--in a couple of different ways--was that it is by no means
clear that a near-total focus on Prometheus, or even on research in general,
is NECESSARILY the best allocation of resources. Arguably, spending $10
million on public relations over ten years might produce better results over
all, and even ultimately for research, than spending that amount on PP. This
is very different from the position Charles ascribes to me.

My present view is simple enough, and moderate. Naturally I agree that
cryonicists should spend much more collectively and individually on research
than they have in the past--and also much more on public relations; and also
on the many projects, technical and non-technical, that all organizations
have awaiting funding. But I think we should avoid anything like a one-basket
approach. Research should not strip all or even most funding from other vital
areas, and Prometheus should not strip potential funding from other research
projects.

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society


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