by
Rudi Hoffman
(Magazine Excerpt from the October 2007 Free Inquiry Magazine)
What is Cryonics?
Cryonics is the science of cooling people immediately
upon the pronouncement of legal death in the hope that, at some point,
future technology may be able to resuscitate them. As such, it is a
logical extension of the science of cryobiology, in which semen (which
can be used almost indefinitely after cryopreservation), human eggs,
human embryos, and other biological organisms and tissues are stored at
very cold temperatures, typically in liquid nitrogen at -196 degrees
Celsius.
The cryopreservation of human sperm and embryos is a
mature technology to which thousands of men and women already owe their
lives. Intestines, ovaries, blood vessels, and skin are among the many
tissues that can be reversibly cryopreserved with current technology.
Even brain slices are cryopreservable with normal function after
rewarming. But the technology involved in cryogenically freezing and
then successfully rewarming a complete, multicellular organism is much
more complex. Cryonic suspension works today - if by "works" we mean
"completely stops any further deterioration to the biological organism,
whether for 30 or 300 years." Once a biological organism has been cooled
to cryogenic temperatures, further deterioration stops. Still, as of
this writing, there is no documented example of a large, multicellular
animal like a dog, cat, rat, or human cooled to cryogenic temperatures
then successfully rewarmed with all functions intact.
But the people signing up for cryonic preservation today
are not deterred by the difficulties of cryopreserving whole people.
There is scientific speculation that future technologies, like
artificial general intelligence, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, may
enable even imperfectly cryopreserved humans to be resuscitated with
consciousness intact.
Just because this has yet to be done, it does not mean
that it cannot be done. Legitimate cryonics protocols and concepts do
not violate known laws of physics or biology, and there are many "proof
of concept" examples, like reduced temperature surgery and
operating-room resuscitation of people prematurely pronounced "dead."
Numerous modern medical procedures, including heart
transplants, cloning, stem cell research, and even anesthesia, were once
considered science fiction. (Interestingly, religious conservatives
denounced each such advance as "playing God.")
How many people are signed up for cryonic preservation?
The first successfully cryopreserved person who has remained at low
temperature is Dr. James Bedford. He entered suspension on January 12,
1967, soon after the publication of Robert Ettinger's seminal book, The
Prospect of Immortality. Though the practice of cryonics is over forty
years old, the number of people signed up for suspension remains small.
According to the Web sites of the two existing cryonics organizations,
only about a thousand people have signed up, with about 150 already in
liquid-nitrogen containers.
Why I Signed Up
In 1994, I read an article in Omni magazine about a
cryonics organization, the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, now based in
Scottsdale, Arizona. I was fascinated to find that there were at least
two organizations providing human cryopreservation: Alcor and the
Cryonics Institute, the latter based in Michigan. I had thought cryonics
to be strictly science fiction, and I was thunderstruck to find that
two real, solid organizations had been quietly cryopreserving people for
decades.
At the time, Alcor's price for a full body suspension was
$120,000. Due to inflation and improved protocols, it has now risen to
$150,000. (The Cryonics Institute charges slightly less.) I was
surprised to find that this entire cost can be paid by life insurance!
By simply adding an extra policy naming Alcor as beneficiary, for a few
bucks a day, I could be a part of this grand experiment.
As a Certified Financial Planner, part of my business is
implementing life insurance solutions for my clients. I determined that
an extra permanent universal life-insurance policy was quite affordable -
even affordable enough to "cost justify" to my wife, whose enthusiasm
for this experiment was initially less than overwhelming.
Like many people who eventually sign up for cryonics, I
had multiple questions. The Alcor staff answered them straightforwardly.
There was a clear understanding that cryonics is not a guaranteed
ticket to the future, but is a "best efforts" proposal of dedicated and
conscientious individuals. The multiple variables that could go wrong
were clearly laid out for me, both in my conversations with Alcor staff
and in the paperwork that they sent to me. I have since learned a great
deal about the cryonics community. People who sign up for cryonics
display interesting demographics. Not surprisingly, many tend to be
skeptical of the claims of religions. They are generally scientific,
analytical, and academic by orientation. Until recently, they have been
disproportionately software engineers and computer professionals.
Most of us are extremely aware of the variables that
could make resuscitation unlikely. The circumstances surrounding one's
"legal death" are obviously critical. Many of us have taken steps to
reduce our personal risks for unexpected clinical death in order to
maximize the likelihood that a cryonics team will be present at the time
our heart stops. Coming "out of the closet" as a cryonicist with
friends and family can be difficult, but it is obviously helpful to
reduce the chance of delays or legal action near the time of
cryopreservation.
Still, not all variables are uncontrollable. Two
individuals signed up for cryonic suspension died in the World Trade
Center on September 11, 2001. In such instances, proceeds of the
insurance policy meant to fund cryonic suspension go to a named
secondary beneficiary such as a loved one or charity, just as with
ordinary life insurance.
While I am not sanguine about the logistical and
technological challenges that need to be met for cryonics to work, I am
happy to say I feel very good about my cryonics arrangement. It is a
rationalist's way of coping with medical problems for which there is no
contemporary solution. While acknowledging that cryonics, like other
medical procedures, is always a "best efforts" intervention, being a
signed cryonicist makes me feel like I have at least taken advantage of
the most recent developments in science and technology.
Ethical Considerations
The ethics of cryonics are certainly relevant to
humanists who seek to live with high integrity. Let me try to respond to
some commonly expressed concerns.
In a world of scarce resources and overpopulation, should
people try to preserve and extend their lives? We've already answered
this question, every one of us: of course we should! Any persons
seriously convinced that human individuals cause more human problems
than they solve would be ethically constrained to kill themselves.
Fortunately, most of us feel like we solve more problems than we create.
While that may be self delusion on the part of some, I respectfully
suggest that the world would be better if Albert Einstein, Robert G.
Ingersoll, or Richard Feynman were still generating ideas - or might do
so in the future - instead of being permanently and irretrievably dead.
What about the ethical aspects of paying for cryonics?
Currently, society expends enormous resources to keep very old and frail
people alive, though there may be no chance of improvement in the
quality of their lives. In contrast, cryonics is easily paid for with an
extra life insurance policy, is paid using only private as opposed to
public funds, and has the potential to restore individuals to a quality
of life that could be astounding. How should we as a society treat
patients who have run out of medical options? Should they be stabilized
against the day when radically advanced medicine might render a second
opinion, or shall we destroy them in our arrogant conviction that
present medicine has the last word on what is and isn't possible for all
time?
Conclusion
While not for everyone, cryonics offers to some a
reasonable, affordable, and ethical alternative when contemporary
medicine fails. From the viewpoint of a person from 1907, only one
hundred years ago, most Free Inquiry readers already lead
science-fiction lifestyles. It is not a stretch of vision or imagination
to understand that cryonics, like cloning or heart surgery, will be
mainstream technology in the future. This is the chance to take an
ambulance ride to that future.
Acknowledgment
Sincere thanks to Dr. Brian Wowk of 21st Century Medicine for assistance with this article.
Rudi Hoffman in front of Alcor liquid nitrogen dewars, 2006. Each container holds four or more "patients" at -196˚C.
