X-Message-Number: 22601
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 22:55:11 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: apostles
From: "Charles Platt" <>

Regarding Peter Merel's speculation that cryonics could benefit from some
more people with apostle-style fervor:

Well, yes and no.

First we should question whether this scheme would work. Remember that
Robert Ettinger wrote not one book but two, the second being "Man Into
Superman" as I recall (I am traveling right now and can't check the title
easily). Of course it would be presumptuous of me to second-guess the
author's motives, but it looked to me as if "Man into Superman" was aimed
along the lines that Peter has in mind; and it didn't gather many (if any)
hardcore adherents.

Second, an adoption of the apostolic approach would be a tacit admission
that we are engaged in a faith-based rather than a science-based endeavor.
This could discourage more people than it might attract. It would
certainly discourage me.

Third, while apostles will devote a great deal of time and energy for "the
cause" (whatever the cause may be) their dedication can be dangerous,
especially in a field where we are dealing with delicate situations. For
instance, I would not want a hardcore apostle making any critical
decisions regarding last-minute cases or legal paperwork.

The root cause of almost all problems in cryonics is that the endeavor was
begun prematurely. Instead of waiting till all aspects were proven, the
gifted amateurs plowed ahead in any way they could. This made sense if one
wishes to take a chance to save a life, but still, it created a lot of
problems. I believe the answer to this situation is to proceed as quickly
as possible toward the targets that have been obvious for more than thirty
years: Reversible cryopreservation of an organ such as a kidney, followed
by reversible cryopreservation of a brain. I am fully aware that these are
nontrivial tasks. But lack of public interest in research into human
cryopreservation is much harder for me to understand than lack of public
interest in cryonics.

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