X-Message-Number: 7150
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 14:12:03 -0800
From:  (Olaf Henny)
Subject: Re: CryoNet #7143, Definitions; SCI.CRYONICS

Re: Message #7143
From:  (Kenton E. Sinner)

The following proposal for clarification of definitions by Kenton Sinner
makes eminently good sense to me, and I support adopting them into the
cryonics jargon:

>I suggest the following:  that we use the term "dead" to refer to
>what it traditionally means, which is cessation of function, as in
>a dead battery, but we sever the implied permanence into a separate
>concept.  So we will have two concepts to what might happen to a person
>who suffers severe damage: death and dissolution.  Death is the cessation
>of function, which implies no permanence whatsoever.  Dissolution is
>what happens after death in the absence of intervention, and *is*
>permanent, since it involves loss of *pattern*.
>
>What this means is this:  when someone's vital signs stop, as in
>cases of hypothermia, the person is dead, but may be revived if
>proper care is given.
>
>If proper care is not given, death is followed by dissolution, which
>cannot be reversed (according to our present understanding, at least).


Ergo:
Death  -->  Revival  --> Continuance of Life
(preservation of legal status)  
			vs.
Death  -->  Dissolution  -->  Annihilation
(loss of legal status)

I consider the distinction extremely important in dealing with the rights of
the cryopreserved individual.  

Once the technology of cryopreservation has matured to the stage, where it
becomes acceptable to the general public such distinctions in the now
muddled definition of "death" become absolutely necessary, and we have to be
able to present a clear framework of definitions, which can form the basis
for the appropriate legislation.

It appears to me, as a layman, that a clear precedent for continuation of
legal status already exists: 

When a person is revived, who had suffered a temporary loss of all vital
signs, i.e. suffers a brief "death" when drowning, or when cooled to near
freezing temperatures on the operating table, has no loss of legal status.
Therefore a person who suffers an extended "death" with no or negligible
dissolution who is cryopreseved should also be able to preserve his/her
legal status.

However, this case can only be made, when a definable distinction between
death/dissolution and death/preservation exists.

Olaf Henny

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Greed is a very positive motivating force.  Without it (the desire to 
 possess) man would still not have captured the fire, and would probably 
 still be swinging from the trees in some of the warmer regions of this globe.
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