Key Points
- •Medical procedure to preserve humans at ultra-low temperatures after legal death
- •Based on premise that future technology may reverse both death and aging
- •Vitrification process prevents ice crystal formation that damages tissue
- •Organizations like Alcor and Cryonics Institute offer preservation services
- •An asymmetric bet: if it works, you live; if not, you're no worse off
- •Some view it as a bridge to reach longevity escape velocity or the Singularity
The Basic Idea
Cryonics is the practice of preserving humans at ultra-low temperatures immediately after legal death, with the hope that future technology will be able to revive and rejuvenate them.
The premise is simple: if the information that constitutes you (the pattern of your brain) is preserved, future technology—whether nanotechnology, whole brain emulation, or something we can't yet imagine—might be able to restore you to life.
The Procedure
Modern cryonics uses vitrification rather than freezing:
Standby: Teams are ready to begin procedures immediately after legal death is declared.
Stabilization: Blood circulation and breathing are restored mechanically while cooling begins. Medications prevent deterioration.
Perfusion: Blood is replaced with cryoprotectant solutions that prevent ice crystal formation.
Vitrification: The body (or just the head, in some cases) is cooled to -196°C, entering a glass-like state without ice damage.
Storage: Patients are maintained in liquid nitrogen indefinitely, requiring no power—just periodic nitrogen refills.
The Case For Cryonics
Proponents argue:
It's a bet with asymmetric payoffs: If it works, you get to live. If it doesn't, you're no worse off than if you'd been buried or cremated.
Information preservation: The brain's structure encodes who you are. If that structure is preserved, recovery is at least theoretically possible.
Technological trajectory: Nanotechnology and AI are advancing rapidly. What seems impossible now may be routine in 100 years.
Low cost: Compared to many end-of-life medical interventions, cryonics is relatively affordable (often funded through life insurance).
Current State
The cryonics community has grown steadily. Alcor has preserved over 200 patients, with over 1,000 members signed up. The Cryonics Institute has preserved a similar number. Advances in vitrification quality continue to improve preservation fidelity—the Brain Preservation Foundation's prize was won in 2018 for demonstrating excellent ultrastructural preservation of a whole brain using aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation.
The Singularity Connection
Many cryonics advocates see it as a bridge to the Singularity. If you can stay preserved long enough to reach a world with superintelligent AI or advanced nanotechnology, revival becomes much more plausible—and you'd wake up in a world of radical abundance and perhaps biological immortality.
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