Is it better to cryopreserve the whole body or just the head ?
If future science can repair freezing damage and other cryopreservation damage − along with disease damage and aging damage − future science should also be able to grow new, improved bodies. Heads can be stored at much less expense than whole bodies, so there is an economic incentive to store only the heads. Also, heads can be cooled and perfused more quickly than whole bodies, and are therefore vitrify more readily − resulting in better cryopreservation. But many people believe that their bodies contain information they would not want to lose. In subtle ways that future science may be able to decipher, life experience may cause the mind to leave impresssions in the body the way a footprint leaves impressions in the sand − impressions otherwise lost if reconstruction of identity in the brain is less than perfect. A ghoulish impression created by neuropreservation would make any cryopreservation unacceptable to relatives and associates whose support or respect is deemed important. If th
If future technology can repair freezing damage and other cryopreservation damage — along with disease damage and aging damage — future medicine should also be able to grow new, improved bodies. Heads can be stored at much less expense than whole bodies, so there is an economic incentive to store only the heads. Also, heads can be cooled and perfused more quickly than whole bodies, and are therefore vitrify more readily − resulting in better cryopreservation. But many people believe that their bodies contain information they would not want to lose. In subtle ways that future science may be able to decipher, life experience may cause the mind to leave impresssions in the body the way a footprint leaves impressions in the sand − impressions otherwise lost if reconstruction of identity in the brain is less than perfect. A ghoulish impression created by neuropreservation would make any cryopreservation unacceptable to relatives and associates whose support or respect is deemed important. I
