X-Message-Number: 9627 Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 01:38:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Charles Platt <> Subject: Fraud Belatedly I must echo others who have complained about the Ettingerian tendency to paraphrase and/or misconstrue people's statements. I have never stated or implied that cryonics is fraudulent. I happen to be the president of a cryonics organization. Plus, I pay money myself for insurance and membership dues. Therefore, OBVIOUSLY I do not think, and would not say, that cryonics is fraudulent. I have said many times that I feel some misgivings about promoting a product that causes damage and may not work. This is rather the opposite of perpetrating fraud, wouldn't you agree, Bob? In fact this kind of full disclosure is a highly ethical policy to ensure that our members are properly informed about the shortcomings of our state of the art. Bob argues that "emphasizing the negative" discourages members. I see it merely as telling the truth, and if I didn't do so, *then* I would feel guilty of fraud. I have pointed out already that Alcor enjoyed its most rapid growth during the presidency of Mike Darwin, who has always made a point of emphasizing the problems and inadequacies of cryonics. Clearly, we don't have to downplay the defects of our procedures in order to sign up new members. In fact, so far as I can tell, Bob is the only person who seems seriously concerned about this. --Charles Platt Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9627