Re: Freedom or death? (Was: Re [2]: Extropy in the personal sphere

Hal Finney (hal@rain.org)
Fri, 8 Aug 1997 17:14:55 -0700


Brent Allsop asks:
> So anyway, let me ask you a question I've been struggling with
> about what the proper behavior should be. Lets say you have a very
> close loved one. Say it is one of your children or something. Lets
> say he's about 17 years old ...
> [cryonics scenario deleted]

I'd view this similarly to other questions about interventions.
Similar issues arise if he is becoming addicted to a harmful drug,
or is depressed and suicidal.

I would intervene and use coercion if he were my 10 year old child. If he
were 30 I would probably limit myself to persuasion. 17 is a gray area.

There is a saying in the legal community, "hard cases make bad law".
I'm not sure exactly what it means, but I have always thought of it
as advice that exploring these gray areas is not a fruitful way to
establish fundamental issues. You become embroiled in the specifics of
the situation and it obscures the broad principles.

Hal