Cryonics

[ciphergoth]

I'm considering signing up with the Cryonics Institute. Are you signed up? I'd be interested to hear your reasons why or why not. It does of course sound crazy, but when you press past that initial reaction to find out why it's crazy, I haven't heard a really satisfactory argument yet, and I'm interested to hear what people think. There are many reasons it might not work, but are there reasons to think it's really unlikely to work? How likely does recovery need to be for it to be worth it?

Comments

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

But I take it this doesn't apply to, for example, electrically restarting the heart in an emergency?

[djm4]

Actually, for me, personally, I'd prefer that it did. I suspect I am very unusual in that, though. I'm not sure where I draw the line, but as a rule of thumb, if I end up 'dead' and in need of 'revival', I'd rather not be revived. That is a very personal choice, though, and not one I expect those close to me (who'd be put through considerable trauma if I were to die) to respect in the case of a heart attack.

However, even if I didn't think it applied, the resources invested in electrically restarting my heart are way smaller than those needed for cryonics, and are definitely on the 'this is OK' side of the line for me.

[xmakina.livejournal.com]

Do Not Resuscitate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_not_resuscitate)

When there's a law for it, you can't be that weird :)

[lizw.livejournal.com]

I'll certainly respect that, knowing it's what you want. I'll help you write a living will to increase the chances that doctors will respect it, too, if you'd like me to.