[extropy-chat] Christopher Reeve Foundation: Request

[David Lubkin]

Mike Lorrey wrote:

>Death is also seen as a lottery, a crap shoot. You die "when your
>number is up". Games of chance are seen as fair so long as everyone
>freely chooses the level of risk they want, and win or lose accordingly
>to the roll of the dice. Immortality is playing with a loaded deck,
>with loaded dice. It is counting the cards with x-ray vision.

Apropos of this, as I think I posted on the original list -- cognitive 
dissonance is also an important factor.

I've often encountered absolute unwillingness to contemplate cryonics from 
people who had loved ones who died and were not frozen. If cryonics could 
work, it means they failed their loved ones. Therefore, cryonics cannot be 
legitimate.

Similarly, I have a friend whose child had leukemia. I told my friend about 
therapies that might help (like Cathcart's experiences with massive doses 
of Vitamin C). He was not interested, and a few months later the child 
died. How could he ever accept the validity of alterative therapies now? 
The price would be acknowledging that he contributed to his son's death.


-- David Lubkin.