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?

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