Why is cryonics so cost effective and relatively inexpensive, yet nobody uses it?

Question

Cryonics, the option of having your body frozen in an experiemental medical procedure that may result in revival in the future, is easily funded through life insurance and is hence quite cheaper than traditional funeral arrangements at a few thousand dollars versus tens of thousands left to the survivors to shoulder. Yet, few people choose this futuristic option, prefering to rot with worms than see an interplanetary, futuristic civilization of tomorrow. Weird and kinda inexplicable, eh?

Cynical, but the potential of possible life vs the certainty of becoming worm crap is sufficient for some intelligent people to understand the difference between the options and their outcome. If your so dead set on the circle of life crap, then why not take a gun and end it now and "make more room" on the Earth for those who want to live? These arguements against are myopic and ignorant.

The stated prices for CI membership have been quoted in a misleading manner and a cardboard box burial in an unmarked grave for $8k is indeed a cheap way to say goodbye, so I can't disagree with that in particular. Cryonics is still cheaper and better though.

the cost of cryonics is paid through a inexpensive life insurance policy, so the overall lifetime expense of cryonics is less than funeral expenses. A couple hundred dollars in insurance annually vs. 25k upfront funeral is stupid. As to the cost of all that science equipment"...you actually have no clue as to what you are referring. My sources are straight from the sources as a current cryonicist and as a trained cryonics transport tech and as a former member of a cryonics company board of directors.

the fact that current technology cannot revive human brains is not lost on cryonics volunteers. maybe you missed the key point that this is an ongoing scientific experiment that will not be successful until technology can reverse ischemic damage, clone bodies, transplant brains, reverse microfissure damage in soft tissue and reverse intracellular ice crystal damage...dont even go to the stupid, unscientific "cells ***-plode from inside" dumbass crap. are you all dense, stupid or both?

Answer 1

Hi.

Cryonics has a couple of basic problems that prevent widespread adoption. Some would say that the "not guaranteed to work" thing is a problem, but I think there is a more basic issue.

For Cryonics to be affordable requires funding with life insurance. Buying life insurance requires considering and accepting the inevitability of death. Thinking and planning for your own death is not "fun", and most people don't do it until they are old, if at all. Roll it together and you see the real problem of Cryonics adoption is the problem of getting people to realize and plan for their mortality, and to do so while they are young so it is affordable.

You won't get a lot of traction with the "cheaper than a funeral" argument. In the same scenario, insurance to pay for the funeral is cheaper. In that case the funeral has the same problem as Cryonics, again getting a person to take responsibility for their final expenses while they are young.

For me, I can't imagine a future without Cryonics. How people can get in a car and drive on a freeway knowing they are a blink away from irreversible physical death is beyond me.

I am a funded option 2 member of the Cryonics institute, and have been since my 25th birthday. My life insurance for suspension, additional life insurance to take care of my family, and the Cryonics Institute dues combined cost about $200/year.

-Ellie


Justin: No, not whole people yet, no. Brain tissue, yes. Kidneys, livers, embryos, yes. Microorganisms, Yes. Then there was the japanes guy that was stuck in the side of a glacier for a month and survived, but he wasn't really "frozen".

Kacky: The environmental impact of being frozen for 500 years is difficult to quantify. Liquid nitrogen is made from air with electricity, and there are the perpetual costs of maintaining the facilities. In a traditional burial, the person is perfused with toxic chemicals placed in a single use manufactured non-biodegradable container, and buried in a cemetery that will be mowed, seeded, irrigated and fertilized for at least a hundred years. Neither really fits the whole "circle of life". Perhaps Eco-burial does, but that is a smaller niche than Cryonics.

Chris: Great answer. The person dead on the street has 5 minutes, tops. Then they are "dead" by our definition. At room temperature they have less than a day before the information that makes them "them" is physically destroyed... as in it begins to liquefy. Contrast this with Cryosuspension. A person that is cooled immediately after cardiac arrest and vitrified can stay frozen for hundreds or even thousands of years with no information loss. Time really is on the side of the Cryonics patient.

The really smart Cryonicists use the Longevity Trust, holding corporations, or perpetual trusts to save money for future revival. These funds are invested for the long-long term, and interest can accrue for hundreds of years. It is quite possible that the richest man alive in the year 2500 may be the Cryonicist that is suspended today. ($10,000 at 5%/yr for 500 years is just shy of 43 trillion dollars. ) (Yes I understand the economic impact of that amount of money in a single fund across that span of time and realize all of the complications involved.)

The big point here is that while Cryonics hasn't been proven, it hasn't been disproven either. All of the science seems to indicate it is possible. The same science indicates that traditional burial cannot be reversed beyond a few days at most because the information that defines a person is physically lost. Cryonics buys you the time it takes for science to catch up.

Answer 2

I just read a book that had a few chapters on Cryonics recently. The science is flawed. In the current freezing process all the cells in the body are destroyed by ice crystals. No matter how much science progresses from here nothing can bring those people back. They are working on a way to mimic a famous frog that can freeze through through the use of blood sugar, dehydration, and other factors that raise the chance of being revived. Until they can mimic those things that the frog does Cryonics makes no sense at all. I'm sure once they solve the problem of how to properly freeze people we will all know about it.

Answer 3

The problem here is in the statement "may result in revival". What happens when it "doesn't result in revival"? This is the key here. We can't commonly bring back people that are very recently deceased including the common cardiac arrest on the street with death being less than 5 minutes so what makes you believe science will ever overcome the gap? It's amusing that people don't believe science will ever figure out a way to deal with nuclear waste or landfills but will overcome the boundary between life and death. I feel that science has enough problems dealing with issues that will affect us before they deal with fun theoretical issues like reviving a person 1000 years later who awakes and realizes that they have no money (due to inflation), cannot be understood since the language has changed and now will spend their life being poked and prodded as a "caveman" in a cage and the science museum. The reality is that there is no contingent plan for actually dealing with the ramifications of revival so it's likely just a scam to take your money and then when it runs out charge the family if any is left for a now three times more expensive funeral. However if there is no one to pay for it... yep you go in the cardboard box and your ashes get launched into outerspace or the trash heap (possibly recycled at that point).

Good question but I think it answers itself.

Answer 4

Um, since when are funerals tens of thousands of dollars? What age are you living in that you even consider cryonics "cost effective"? The average cost of a funeral is about $8000, not "tens of thousands". And since when do life insurance companies fund cryonics? That's news to me, and I am a licensed insurance agent.
Weird and inexplicable? Seriously? Because people cognitively understand that dead is dead, there is no bringing you back, and no need to bring you back? Cryonics is playing God, and trying to change the natural events of life. We are born, we pay taxes, and we die, end of story. Why can't you cryonics chasers just give it up and realize there is no need for cryonics, not to mention tat it is a false promise and largely expensive, with absolutely no gaurantee it will work. Yeah, I'd love to dump money into something, only for the possibility of having to pay for a funeral in the end anyways. WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE, NO ONE IS GETTING OUT ALIVE, HATE TO TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Chris: Excellent, to the point and well thought out answer. Nice work.

Answer 5

Cryonics isn't cheap -- it can cost up to $150,000 to have your whole body preserved. But for the more frugal futurists, a mere $50,000 will preserve your brain for perpetuity -- an option known as neurosuspension. sources: http://science.howstuffworks.com/cryonics2.htm

my grandpa got buried at the cost of around 15k. 15k to 150k, really cheap there. you must have some stupid source. the cost of all the science and equipment for being frozen is more than a mere box, i rather have the money go to the family rather than used to keep me frozen indefinitely.

Answer 6

It's not that cheap. The Cryonics Institute charges $28,000 for a membership, and ALCOR charges $150,000 for a full suspension.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics

A traditional but no-frills funeral (complete with in-ground burial and grave marker) can be had for $8,000. I should know, I recently purchased one for a family member.

Answer 7

Is there a single documented case of someone being brought back to life from a cryogenic state? To the best of my knowledge the answer is a resounding no and that is the only answer you need as to why it's not more popular.

Once science actually reanimates someone AND cures whatever ailed them, then we'll start to see the popularity of cryogenics increase.

Answer 8

Not weird at all. Cryogenics is fake. Most of us prefer to be a part of the continuum of life than to take up space we don't deserve.

I'd rather feed the earth than sit around being freezer-burnt.

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