X-Message-Number: 6669
From:  (Thomas Donaldson)
Subject: Re: CryoNet #6664 - #6666
Date: Sat, 3 Aug 1996 11:46:58 -0700 (PDT)

Now Paul!


Since you have raised these points in public I will add a bit of my own
commentary.

The first --- very first --- thing I will say is that refusing to let 
THE IMMORTALIST publish anything at all about Prometheus is a bad, bad move.
After all, they did publish your own email address, and anyone who reads 
TI will therefore have one means to contact you --- and when they do, you
can explain how you were unhappy with their coverage. Members of the Cryonics
Institute, just like other cryonicists, are not blank androids controlled by
Robert Ettinger or anyone else. Whether or not Mae and Bob like the idea of
Prometheus, members may well like it --- if informed that it exists. And the
piece in TI did do that, whether or not it did so in a way you would like.

It is little kids who say they'll take their toys and play somewhere else when
they're upset. 

Moreover, by your response you confirm one worry I myself have had about 
your promotion of Prometheus. It should be done entirely by appeal to 
rational thinking, with no implication that Prometheus is or will be the
only means for our salvation. I say "worry" here because I'm sure you'll
come back and tell me that's not what you're doing. But I know several people

who read your pieces as saying just that. Some unknown # of people, who would be

happy to contribute otherwise, are put off by what they see as a 
quasi-religioustone to your promotions. 

Vitrification will not, without other important technologies, give us our
salvation. It's not even clear that it will make the noncryonicist public
look at us more seriously --- you may get lots of people who respond: "ugh...
me as a well-preserved brain???!! How repulsive". Sure, given that it works
it will and should be seen BY CRYONICISTS as a major advance, but that 
doesn't mean that those who aren't will notice at all, or if they do look
on the idea favorably.

Yes, research on brain vitrification is very important, and should definitely
be done as soon as we are able to do so. And it will also be expensive. Those
two propositions, it seems to me, are the only ones necessary to make people
see the merits of Prometheus. As for promoting those two propositions, I also
think we would do much better to listen to those who object rather than simply
shoving them off into a corner with the other unwashed. They, too, may have
important insights which we should include in our planning. Do you really
want this thing to fail because of squabbles between cryonicists? 

We should ALL try to control ourselves on this issue. Yes, we are all prideful
and headstrong, and react strongly to criticism. We can choose to play out
those traits one more time, or we can genuinely try to put together a joint
project which just may provide a big increase in our ability to preserve
ourselves. It seems to me those are pretty stark alternatives, but there
they are.

			Long long life,

				Thomas Donaldson


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