X-Message-Number: 9438 Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 11:21:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Charles Platt <> Subject: CryoCare I've said my piece about CI's protocol and I still believe the facts speak for themselves. I will now deal only with the issues that Bob has raised referring specifically to my own organization, CryoCare. CryoCare's growth initially exceeded the growth rate of any cryonics organization at any time since cryonics came into being. I believe this is because we offered a well-documented, better service, and because Brenda Peters did excellent work in outreach. After she decided to quit I argued strongly that we should direct our limited resources to other priorities. Subsequently, we have all agreed that research is a more important goal than growth at this time. I believe that when the research provides better proof of the feasibility of cryonics, it will be far easier to sign up new members. It's much easier to sell a service that is proven than a service that has unknown results. Also I believe that even with state-of-the-art techniques, we are inflicting unacceptable damage on patients--far less than I believe is occurring with simpler techniques, but still unacceptable. I have ethical reservations about "selling" cryonics on this basis. As for the wisdom of admitting that cryonics has a small chance of working in its current state, I believe honesty is essential in this field. While CryoCare was in its growth phase, we made no secret of the general inadequacies in cryonics. Likewise, Alcor enjoyed an exponential growth rate while its PR was handled by Mike Darwin, who has always gone out of his way to emphasize risks and difficulties. I reiterate that unsubstantiated optimism has, in my opinion, been a constant problem, not a benefit, through the history of cryonics. Bob Ettinger asks, skeptically, if we turn people away. Yes, we do. We frequently refer people to Alcor, and we are not looking for new members at this time. --Charles Platt President, CryoCare ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Charles Platt * P.O.Box 36 * Jerome, AZ 86331 phone 520 634 5800 * fax 520 634 5533 Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9438