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. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=7255