It's not clear from Eugene's letter if he is actually cancelling his
cryonics contract or just eliminating a degree of "active" participation.
I think it would be unwise to do the former and would be an unfortunate
overreaction to the problems in the cryonics community.
Frankly, I am amazed at how bad-tempered, rude, ill-mannered and
unlikeable the members of the community appear to be, at least in
their online personas. With such a small group of people, who face such
overwhelming external threats, you would think they would recognize their
common interests and band together for survival. Instead you see insults,
feuds, back-stabbing, tremendous negativity.
It's gotten to the point where I'd suggest that active participation
in the cryonics community is detrimental to your long-term survival.
I unsubscribed to cryonet years ago and my peace of mind has been far
greater as a result. I don't think it is healthy to expose yourself to
the stress and tension which is provoked by engaging in bitter online
battles (even vicariously). You're reducing the quality of your life
and potentially your healthy lifespan as well.
And in the extreme you may be goaded to take measures like cutting off
your involvement with cryonics entirely. (Whether Eugene has done this
or not, the point remains that it can happen.) Even though this may seem
like a completely justified action in the context of an ongoing dispute,
from the larger perspective it can only hurt your chances of survival,
and that should be the bottom line for this kind of decision.
I am a passive cryonics client. I subscribed years ago, I pay my dues,
and I let the company worry about the rest. I feel that to take a more
active role would end up being harmful to my long-term prospects, as I
explained above. I sacrifice a certain incremental improvement in my
prospects by possibly not having the absolute best cryonics arrangement
possible. But I gain peace of mind and tranquility, and in the long
run these are healthy and life-enhancing attributes that I value.
Hal
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