X-Message-Number: 14492
From: "john grigg" <>
Subject: the broad view of things...
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 09:21:32 GMT

George Smith wrote:
I am grateful for those who may be driven to devote their efforts to
cryonics related research perhaps 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (though I
doubt there exist such people).  At the same time, if these same
hypothetical individuals do not balance their efforts toward cryonics
success with seeking and remembering the PURPOSE behind that effort, sooner
or later they may find their lives have gone stale as meaning has vanished.

Speculation, fantasy, and the drive to understand what the future may reveal
to those few of us who have opened the door to potential immortality are
NECESSARY, I believe, to keep that door open.

"Without vision, the people die".

Discussing such issues as ethics, extraterrestial contact, transhumanism,
and potential alternative futures seems to me to be a vital part of WHY
those involved in this great gamble for hyper extended life should bother.
(end)

I am grateful to George Smith for making such a vital point so poignantly.  
All these "off-topic" subjects people love to dwell on here are actually
indicating their fascination and love for an incredible universe they would 
like to stick around in for a long time longer.

George, with all the people around here who have written books, I think it's 
time that you write one!  "The Best Posts of George Smith" comes to mind as 
a title. :)  I am sure you have a book in you somewhere...

I am looking forward to the anthology being prepared by Natasha Vita-More 
which will give the views of very varied individuals as to why indefinite 
lifespan would be such a great thing.  I hope to be reading it soon but do 
not know of the release date.

Even with the list veering off in different directions, when needed it can 
certainly get back on course to discuss what is going on within the cryonics 
world.  I am simply grateful that most prominent cryonicists and the leaders 
of the two main organizations are subscribers.  If we were to lose their ear 
it would be a unfortunate thing.

sincerely,

John Grigg
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