X-Message-Number: 31453
From: 
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 23:29:20 EDT
Subject: Alex Doherty reprinted posting, refutation

In a message dated 3/7/2009 6:00:47 AM Eastern Daylight Time,  
 writes:


The  pseudo science of cryonics is similar in its contempt for nature - 

instead of  viewing death as healthy, inevitable and essential for life death is
instead  re-conceptualised as a mere technical problem that will eventually be 
solved  and the question of whether it is wise or moral to interfere with one 
of the  most fundamental elements of all natural systems is considered  
irrelevant.
We would be living in a far better world if cryonics were  purely an 

outlandish fantasy but however technically unfeasible it may be, or  however 
bizarre 
it may seem, cryonics is a perfectly logical extension of our  current mode of 
thinking. It is a mode of thinking that has always threatened  the mental and 
physical well-being of ourselves, it now threatens the  existence of the 
biosphere at anything more than a grossly degraded  level.





(End copying, Rudi writing)

Goodness!  Did anyone else find  this breathless nonsense to be mildly 
annoying?  LOL!

It is  remeniscent of the radical green agenda, or Bill McKibben's philosophy 
(He  wrote a book called,"Enough." )
 
I certainly understand the longing on the part of many for a sense of  
community.   

Regretfully, the values underlying the above  quote are the exact opposite of 
the transhumanist orientation.  

We  transhumanists (and I obviously don't speak for all in this 

anti-authoritarian  group) understand that the adjective "natural" is virtually 
meaningless 
when it  comes to determining behavior.
 
Is it "natural" to live in houses?  To write on computers?  To  drive cars, 
or even ride bicycles?  Or to have indoor plumbing, or  something as basic as 
wearing clothes or utilizing the proven benefits of  anti-biotics, or even 
toilet paper?

Of course not!  

Most  EVERYTHING modern humans do is not "natural."  Very few of us elect to 
live  in the woods, being hunter-gatherers, not utilizing the myriads of 

clearly  beneficial but "NON-NATURAL" enhancements made available by science and
technology.
 
I realize I am not being responsive to the ridiculous statements made  above. 
 To complain that "Cryonics threatens ANYTHING at this moment is  baseless.  
Does anyone know if Alex Doherty even did his homework to the  point of 
realizing how TINY we are?  What is the deal with this dude?
 
Yet, it is helpful to have Mark Plus post this writing.  Because, it  is 

smart for us to know that there are loonies on the left leaning, Bill  McKibben

quoting "Nature is all good, let's not mess with it" camp as well as  loonies on
the fundamentalist religious and political right.  

Both  camps are potentially dangerous to the individuals reading this being 
able to  live and thrive and grow and help humanity for the kind of lifespans 
that we  choose.  

Both schools of thought have demonstrably greater  influence, power, and 

infrastructure than the visionary thought leaders I  respect in the cryonics and
antiaging communities.  

Excuse me for  stating the obvious, but being alive is a prerequisite for 
doing anyone ANY good  on the planet.  

Those of us arguing for making aging and  death VOLUNTARY understand that we 
are interfering with nature.
 
We MUST.  We DO.  We WILL interfere with nature, because Nature  wants you 
DEAD.
 
Or, more accurately, doesn't much care about you after the point that you  
have...or could have....passed on your genes.  

I have no doubt many folks reading this can and hopefully will respond with  
more cogent and well written responses to the Alex Doherty drivel.   Although, 
we would be probably be better served to spend our energies and  creativity 
figuring out how to be the threat he alleges we are.
 
Now, I am going to go my unnatural but comfortable bed.
 
Rudi 

Rudi Richard Hoffman CFP CLU  ChFC

Board Member Financial Planning Association fpafla.com
Board  Member Salvation Army salvationarmy.org
Member Alcor Life Extension  Foundation alcor.org
Certified Financial Planner(TM) CFP Board of Standards  
Member Libertarian Party libertarianparty.org
Member National Rifle  Association nra.org
Member World Transhumanist Association  http://transhumanism.org/
World's Leading Cryonics Insurance Provider  rudihoffman.com
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