X-Message-Number: 13798
From: 
Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 10:55:18 EDT
Subject: research and options

Doug Skrecky (#13775) said that CI "might offer [maybe offers] a somewhat 
inferior product." A couple of comments:

First, CI choices have been made by comparing results of experiments we have 
done, and they are not set in stone. Nor do we think they are less likely to 
prove successful--see our web site for extended discussion. And I might 
gently point out that the most extreme pessimists have said they believe 
there is virtually no chance of success even with the most advanced 
procedures tried experimentally at 21st Century Medicine. 

But let's look to the future. It's not just a question of what have you done 
for me in the past, or even what have you done for me lately, but what can I 
reasonably expect from you in the future.

We have recently tried dozens of new procedures, using old and new 
cryoprotectants, and have many more planned. We only recently found an 
independent testing laboratory--and are sounding out others--to do the 
evaluations. These evaluations will almost certainly result in modifications 
of our procedures. They will also be available for anyone to inspect, on our 
web site and in THE IMMORTALIST. No secrecy and no patent applications.

Cryonics Institute's guiding principles include the following. (1) Face the 
facts. (2) The most relevant facts are our own confirmed observations, not 
someone else's reports, however allegedly authoritative. (3) Offer all 
reasonable options to our members.

That last means that--for example--if BioTransport ever becomes a going 
concern, offering advanced technology not available to anyone else in a 
particular time frame, then we will negotiate with BT to have that option 
available for our members, at whatever price is feasible. It also means that, 
if a member or prospective member, who considers himself knowledgeable, wants 
to specify a particular procedure or variation, rather than our current 
default procedure, then we will try to accommodate him.

Part of the reason for the slow gains in cryonics recruitment is the extreme 
difficulty, for most people, of coming to any well informed conclusion about 
the quantitative chances of success. (You can't even find expert agreement on 
the value of vitamin C, for Pete's sake!) You can only investigate to the 
extent you are willing, and then either make a choice among organizations or 
choose oblivion by default.

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
http://www.cryonics.org

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