X-Message-Number: 29596 From: Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2007 10:02:25 EDT Subject: Article to be published in Free Inquiry Content-Language: en This is Rudi from Port Orange, FL. I want to thank the people who responded to my earlier postings, both on cryonet and personally. While I still think it both obvious and important that one's belief in an afterlife and the nature of this afterlife, is THE factor in why the meme of cryonics is not propagating more rapidly, I am moving on to a different thread for now. I just received word from the editor of "Free Inquiry" magazine that they are going to publish my article entitled, "A Skeptic Looks at Cryonics!" Yippee! I am very excited about this. I would like the article to be as compelling as possible, designed for the extremely intelligent and highly educated subset of humans who read "Free Inquiry." For this reason, I am posting it for vetting on Cryonet. It may be better if you have style or substance enhancement editings to email me personally at _ (mailto:) . Or you can post them on Cryonet if you wish. Full transparency is, IMO, usually a good thing. So, because this may be a long posting, without further ado, here is the article: Article for Free Inquiry Magazine: A Skeptic Looks at Cryonics By Rudi Hoffman CFP CLU ChFC Version 2.0 (Final) written 3/5/2007 Section One: What is Cryonics? You and I have something in common. We are both careening headlong toward the twin conditions of aging and death. These two conditions are the elephant in the room we try to ignore, the motivation behind countless brands of superstition to try to propitiate these gods. But, since you are reading this in the year 2007, not 1007, there may be a more scientific and rational way for you and I to look at these issues. If control of the material world is rapidly advancing, and human beings are part of the material world, then these undesired conditions become problems of medicine...not metaphysics. Cryonics is the science of cooling people down immediately upon the pronouncement of legal death, with the hope that a future technology may be able to revive or resuscitate them at some point in the future. As such, it is logical extension of the science of cryobiology, in which semen (which can be used almost indefinitely after cryopreservation), human eggs (oocytes), human embryos, and other biological organisms or tissues are stored at very cold temperatures, typically in liquid nitrogen at -196 Centigrade. While there are thousands of humans walking around who are alive as a result of the cryopreservation of human sperm and embryos, the technology involved in cryogenically freezing and then successfully rewarming a multi cellular organism is much more complex. Mainstream cryobiology is typically concerned with single cells or thinly sliced biological tissue. As of this writing, there are exactly zero documented examples of large multi cellular animal like a dog, cat, rat, or human who have been cooled to cryogenic temperatures and then successfully rewarmed with all their functions intact. This is not to say there has not been progress made on cryopreserving and successfully warming some organs which are at least partially viable. Intestines, ovaries, blood vessels, and skin are among many tissues that can be reversibly cryopreserved with current technology. Even brain slices can be cryopreserved with retention of normal function after rewarming. Cryopreservation is easier for thin samples and smaller groups of cells, because these can be cooled and rewarmed more quickly, and are easier to treat with cryoprotective agents. But the people signed up for cryonics are not deterred by the difficulties of cryopreserving whole people. There is scientific speculation that future technologies like artificial general intelligence, biotechnology, and nanotechnology will enable resuscitation of even imperfectly cryopreserved humans, with continuity of consciousness intact. Cryonics "works" today, if we define "works" as "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. But for cryonics to truly work, it must not only stop biological time, but stop it in a state that will be treatable by future medicine. Present technology may achieve this procedures are begun promptly after heart stops. It is already known from clinical medicine that the brain can survive periods of stopped blood circulation and inactivity If changes that occur during shutdown can be reversed. Human survival depends on a pattern, not a process. Studies have shown that the fine cell structure of the brain can now be preserved with little or no ice damage using a technique called vitrification. This may be enough for preservation of the human mind, and therefore human life. Just because it has not yet been done, 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 as "dead." Much of modern medicine, including heart transplants, cloning, stem cell research, and even anesthesia were once viewed as science fiction. It is interesting to note, as well, that these advances were denounced by religious conservatives as "playing god." Cryonics, while still too early in development and mass appeal to be noticed by religious zealots, will no doubt continue to be controversial from both the ideological as well as the technological arenas. Section Two: "Many are cold, but few are frozen." How many people are signed up for cryonics? The first successfully cryopreserved person who has remained consistently at low temperatures is Dr. James Bedford. And this happened 40 years ago, on January 12, 1967, some years after the seminal publication authored by Professor Robert Ettinger of the book, "The Prospect of Immortality." The practice of cryonics is over 40 years old, and yet the number of people signed up to do this are relatively few. According to the websites of the two existing cryonics organizations, the total number of people signed up for the process is currently about one thousand, with about 150 already in the liquid nitrogen containers. The endnotes have website references. Why I am signed up for Cryonic preservation with ALCOR In 1994, I read an article in "OMNI" magazine about a cryonics organization, the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, now based in Scottsdale, AZ. I was fascinated to find that there were at least two organizations providing human cryopreservation as an option, Alcor, based near Phoenix, AZ, and The Cryonics Institute in Michigan. I had previously thought this concept was strictly science fiction, and to find that there were two real and solid organizations that had been quietly cryopreserving people for decades was a shock. At the time, the price for a full body suspension with Alcor was $120,000. This cost, due to inflation and improved protocols has now been raised to $150,000. The rate at The Cryonics Institute is lower. But, I was stunned to find that this 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. The idea gestated, taking about six months from concept through research to handling paperwork. Like many people who eventually sign up for cryonics, I had multiple questions. The questions about the technology, logistics, and medical protocols were initially in my mind, and these questions were answered by the Alcor staff in a straightforward manner. Expecting to have some kind of slick presentation, I recall finding the scientific, understated explanations to be both surprising and ultimately confirming. 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 conversations with the membership director at Alcor and even in the paperwork they sent me. The other big question in my mind had to do with affordability. As a Certified Financial Planner part of my business is implementing life insurance solutions for people. I determined that an extra permanent Universal Life insurance policy was quite affordable for me. And, more importantly, even affordable enough for me to cost justify to my wife, whose enthusiasm for this experiment was initially less than overwhelming. I have since attended all Alcor conferences, and learned a great deal about the cryonics community. The demographics of people who sign up for cryonics is an interesting study. Not surprisingly, many people who are cryonicists tend to be skeptical of the claims of religions, scientific, analytical, and academic by orientation, and until recently have been disproportionately software engineers and computer professionals. Most of us are extremely aware of the variables that could make resuscitation unlikely or problematic. The circumstances surrounding one's " legal death" are obviously critical, and many of us have taken steps to reduce personal risks for unexpected clinical death so that a cryonics team can be present at the time our heart stops. Coming "out of the closet" as a cryonicist with one's friends and family can be difficult, but this is obviously a helpful step to reduce the chance of delays or legal action at or near the time of cryopreservation. But, all variables can not be controlled. For instance, there were two individuals signed up for cryonic suspension with Alcor who were killed on 9/11/01 in the World Trade Center. In such instances, the life insurance proceeds go to the secondary beneficiary, much like ordinary life insurance. So, while 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 arrangements. It is a rationalist's way of coping with medical problems for which there is not 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. Section three: Ethical Considerations The ethics of cryonics are certainly relevant to high integrity humanists. In a world of scarce resources and overpopulation should people try to preserve and extend their lives? Of course, all of us have already answered this question! Of course we should! And we do. Anyone convinced that individual humans cause more human problems than we solve would be ethically constrained to kill themselves and remove themselves as a problem maker from the equation. Most of us humans, fortunately, feel like we solve more problems than we create. While this may be self deluded on the part of some of us, I respectfully suggest that the world would be better if Albert Einstein, Robert Ingersoll, or Richard Feynman were generating ideas instead of permanently and irretrievably dead. Currently, huge amounts of resources are spent to keep very old and frail people alive, despite there being no chance of improvement in their quality of lives. In contrast, cryonics is paid for with an extra life insurance policy, entirely done with private as opposed to public funds, and has the potential to restore individuals to a quality of life that could be astounding. Finally, there is the broader ethical question of how we as a society treat patients that have run out of medical options. Should they be stabilized against the day when radically advanced medicine can render a second opinion, or destroyed in our arrogance for believing that present medicine has the last word on what is and isn t possible for all time? Section Four: Summary and References While certainly not for everyone, cryonics is a reasonable, affordable, ethical alternative when contemporary medicine fails. The march of history toward human progress in technology and science is increasing, and probably unstoppable even by misguided politicians. (Although the Bush administration sometimes seems to do it s best to try!). From the viewpoint of a person in 1907 a short one hundred years ago, most of us reading this are already leading "science fiction lifestyles." It is not a stretch of vision or imagination to understand that cryonics, like cloning or heart operations, will be mainstream technology in the future. This is the chance to take an ambulance ride to that future. Those interested in learning more can go to alcor.org; cryonics.org, or simply put "cryonics" in Wikipedia or any search engine. See also the Scientists Open Letter on Cryonics at _http://www.cryoletter.org_ (http://www.cryoletter.org/) Sincere thanks to Dr. Brian Wowk of 21st Century Medicine for assistance with this article. Rudi Richard Hoffman CFP CLU ChFC Board Member Financial Planning Association fpafla.org Board Member Salvation Army salvationarmy.org Member Alcor Life Extension Foundation alcor.org Certified Financial Planner(TM) CFP Board of Standards Member Libertarian Party libertarianparty.org Member National Rifle Association nra.org Member World Transhumanist Association http://transhumanism.org/ World's Leading Cryonics Insurance Provider rudihoffman.com ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=29596