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"DH0. Name-calling. This is the lowest form of disagreement, and probably also the most common. We've all seen comments like this: u r a fag!!!!!!!!!! But it

"DH0. Name-calling. This is the lowest form of disagreement, and probably also the most common. We've all seen comments like this: u r a fag!!!!!!!!!! But it's important to realize that more articulate name-calling has just as little weight. A comment like The author is a self-important dilettante. is really nothing more than a pretentious version of "u r a fag." http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html

ebbv 9y ago
It’s not name calling. It’s calling it what it is. They promise extended life which they cannot deliver at all. They are just like an astrologist or psychic surgeon.
- apsec112 9y ago
  Then why not write a meaningful reply? Why not say "I think cryonics will not work because... <argument 1>, <argument 2>, <argument 3>", instead of throwing generic insults at people?
  - ebbv 9y ago
    For the same reason I’m not gonna spend my time writing a lengthy rebuff of psychic surgery. It’s total nonsense and we as a society have known that for decades, and even a cursory examination makes it obvious.
- icey 9y ago
  There is progress being made on the _scientific_ effort to cryopreserve organic materials (ex: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001122401500245X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001122401...). The argument is not that you will live forever, it's that what we consider "dead" today may not be the same as what's considered dead a hundred years from now. A hundred years ago if you had a heart attack and went unconscious, you were considered dead. We know now that there's a lot of things that can be done to revive someone who has just collapsed from a heart attack, but the awareness wasn't there yet. I'm not interested in cryopreservation personally, but it's quite a stretch to lump the efforts in that space along with astrology or psychic healing.

ebbv 9y ago

It’s not name calling. It’s calling it what it is. They promise extended life which they cannot deliver at all. They are just like an astrologist or psychic surgeon.

apsec112 9y ago
Then why not write a meaningful reply? Why not say "I think cryonics will not work because... <argument 1>, <argument 2>, <argument 3>", instead of throwing generic insults at people?
- ebbv 9y ago
  For the same reason I’m not gonna spend my time writing a lengthy rebuff of psychic surgery. It’s total nonsense and we as a society have known that for decades, and even a cursory examination makes it obvious.
icey 9y ago
There is progress being made on the _scientific_ effort to cryopreserve organic materials (ex: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001122401500245X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001122401...). The argument is not that you will live forever, it's that what we consider "dead" today may not be the same as what's considered dead a hundred years from now. A hundred years ago if you had a heart attack and went unconscious, you were considered dead. We know now that there's a lot of things that can be done to revive someone who has just collapsed from a heart attack, but the awareness wasn't there yet. I'm not interested in cryopreservation personally, but it's quite a stretch to lump the efforts in that space along with astrology or psychic healing.