X-Message-Number: 7255
From: Peter Merel <>
Subject: Visser's Comments
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 07:12:11 +1100 (EST)

Michelle Olga Visser writes,

>Rather crawl back in your miserable hole life has provided for worms like
>you, than insult those who contribute to life what you can never 
>understand, and suffer humanity no more of your ignorance.

Although I'm as fascinated by the prospects Doctor Visser's work holds
out as anyone here, I have to say that this sort of flamage does her no
credit. Cryonet, as a forum, regularly goes through cycles of
recrimination, innuendo and outright slander; cryonicists are generally
passionate people. But these cycles do no one any good; in fact they
emphasise the fragility of cryonet as a community.

Robert Ettinger, although well deserving our respect as the father
of cryonics, the leader of CI, and a valuable and distinctive voice on
cryonet, nevertheless does put his pants on one leg at a time. Idolizing
the man does not help him in any way; in fact it gets in the way of an
impartial discussion of his ideas, thus depriving him of critical feedback
that may help him refine them.

If Dr Visser feels that people's opinions of Ettinger do him an
injustice, I think it's noble of her to spring to his defence.
Nevertheless it is to do an injustice to the ideals of Ettinger to speak
with such incivility, and this flamage is worse in its effect than
Billy Seidel's comments can have been, because it disrupts the community
that has become the main vehicle for the expression of Ettinger's vision.
So, please, Messrs Visser and Coetzee, by all means defend Ettinger as you
like, but don't resort to schoolyard stuff to do it - keep it calm and
rational. Only then will you do the man any good service.

Peter Merel.


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