X-Message-Number: 850 Date: 23 May 92 05:34:26 EDT From: Bob Smart <> Subject: CRYONICS: sci.* RFD I just retrieved the collected discussion about the new newsgroup (CRYOMSG 0012) and I'd like to comment about objection #5 and its rebuttal. Objection #5 is the one that addresses the issue of "false hopes." I agree with the points raised in the rebuttal, but I'd like to add another twist: no one has yet shown why "false hopes" in this situation are actually harmful. It isn't as if people are rejecting better, more sound alternatives in favor of suspension! There comes an inevitable point, with today's medical technology, when a visit to the hospital inspires "false hopes," too, because on that final visit, any hopes the patient or the patient's family might have had about recovery, or at least a short extension of life, are dashed by the patient's death. Aside from the fact that the hopes raised by suspension have yet to be proven "false" ones, why should NO hope be considered superior to "false," let alone "questionable" hope? And in what other scientific or medical situations would this guiding principle (that hopelessness is preferable to uncertain hope) apply? Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=850