You get the critics you get, not the idealised ones you’d like.
This is a good point. But… at the same time, there are limits to who should be taken seriously. If a person insists on questions on the order of whether you’ve stopped beating your wife yet, they aren’t a critic worth replying to. That said, in this context the term would have to be “bozo bit” not “villian bit” as far as I’m concerned—I tend not to paint things black and white as far as character goes, but I accept that there are those who are pointless to reason with (at least at given points in time, for given topics). It seems very plausible that Melody has laudable motives.
I’m not particularly good at ignoring noise, unfortunately, and I am not an expert at what goes on at cryonics organizations. If someone who is wants to step in and reply that’s great. (I am definitely glad this topic has reached the attention of Less Wrong.) My own staunch support for cryonics is not aligned with the success of any particular organization. I think some stabilization is better than no stabilization, but I don’t have an opinion on whether SA is grossly incompetent or not.
It does seem likely to me that they are at least under-utilizing available technologies and probably not using specialists to the degree possible.
Indeed. The critics of cryonics on the Rick Ross boards, for example, have gone way over the edge of serious consideration. And I know some of these people—they were fellow critics in the great battle against Scientology, they sincerely believe they’re doing a good thing, and they have a great deal of experience in dealing with cultishness, financial parasites and those who sell false hope. Unfortunately, they then take this to presume clear organisational incompetence is evidence of actual evil, and then start dehumanising the people they’ve assigned the villain bit. It’s a good example of a failure to examine one’s own thinking.
The Anticult accuses me of advocating child sacrifice because of a thought experiment I posted on the ImmInst forum, which he pulled out of context. I can understand now how Jews feel about blood libel.
This is a good point. But… at the same time, there are limits to who should be taken seriously. If a person insists on questions on the order of whether you’ve stopped beating your wife yet, they aren’t a critic worth replying to. That said, in this context the term would have to be “bozo bit” not “villian bit” as far as I’m concerned—I tend not to paint things black and white as far as character goes, but I accept that there are those who are pointless to reason with (at least at given points in time, for given topics). It seems very plausible that Melody has laudable motives.
I’m not particularly good at ignoring noise, unfortunately, and I am not an expert at what goes on at cryonics organizations. If someone who is wants to step in and reply that’s great. (I am definitely glad this topic has reached the attention of Less Wrong.) My own staunch support for cryonics is not aligned with the success of any particular organization. I think some stabilization is better than no stabilization, but I don’t have an opinion on whether SA is grossly incompetent or not.
It does seem likely to me that they are at least under-utilizing available technologies and probably not using specialists to the degree possible.
Indeed. The critics of cryonics on the Rick Ross boards, for example, have gone way over the edge of serious consideration. And I know some of these people—they were fellow critics in the great battle against Scientology, they sincerely believe they’re doing a good thing, and they have a great deal of experience in dealing with cultishness, financial parasites and those who sell false hope. Unfortunately, they then take this to presume clear organisational incompetence is evidence of actual evil, and then start dehumanising the people they’ve assigned the villain bit. It’s a good example of a failure to examine one’s own thinking.
The Anticult accuses me of advocating child sacrifice because of a thought experiment I posted on the ImmInst forum, which he pulled out of context. I can understand now how Jews feel about blood libel.
But there’s no reason not to answer hypotheticals.