X-Message-Number: 7035
From:  (Randy)
Subject: Cryocare Report July 1996; "Loss"
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 1996 00:22:54 GMT

Just finished reading the latest edition of Cryocare Report. The
article "Loss," by Charles Platt was, IMO, one of the best pieces of
pro-cryonics writing I've ever seen, and, in fact, excellent writing
period.

One of Platt's major themes is that a person is worth at least as much
as a "great" work of art, or any other inanimate object, and therefore
preservation of a human life warrants at least as great an expenditure
as, say, preserving the Mona Lisa. An argument against this would be
that the Mona Lisa is unique, and therefore worthy of the millions
spend to preserve and safeguard it. But how unique is *any* painting
compared to the uniqueness of any one human compared to another?
I would argue that any halfway decent person is a work of art far more
unique and far more beautiful than any scrap of canvas covered with
paint, and therefore worthy of preservation by any means available,
even freezing in liquid nitrogen.

 It would seem that Western Civ is coming around to the pro-cryonics
viewpoint. Haven't we seen human life *increase* in value in developed
countries in the last century? Do we still enslave? Do we still hang
the bad guys in public? When is the last time you saw someone "drawn
and quartered " in the town square? I would argue that even the price
increases in healthcare show that we value human life more these days.
The advent of modern science and the corresponding devaluation of
religion as a means of avoiding facing up to impending death may also
have played a major role increasing the value of human life, at least
in developed western nations.

In "Loss," Platt tells the story of his father's death and how that
loss reaffirms his committment to cryonics. This edition of Cryocare
Report is not yet available at the CryoCare website at
www.cryocare.org/cryocare, but it will probably show up there in the
near future. I highly recommend it.

Randy Smith


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