The Ethics of Cryonics Read online

  Francesca Minerva

  The Ethics of Cryonics

  Is it Immoral to be Immortal?

  Francesca MinervaPhilosophy and Moral Sciences, University of Ghent, Ghent, Vlaams Brabant, Belgium

  ISBN 978-3-319-78598-1e-ISBN 978-3-319-78599-8

  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78599-8

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018939423

  © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.

  The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

  The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

  Cover credit: Pattern adapted from an Indian cotton print produced in the 19th century

  This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part of Springer Nature.

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  This book is dedicated to the memory of the people I miss and I wish I could see again: my aunts Masaria and Wanda, my grandparents Biagio, Liliana, and Saro, and family friends Cosimo and Cristina.

  Preface

  For the sake of transparency, I should clarify that, while I have not signed any personal arrangements to have myself cryopreserved, I have been considering the option for a number of years. In fact, I began writing this book as a means of consolidating and balancing my own views on a topic that has fascinated me for as long as I can recall. As a result, its argumentative structure strongly reflects my own indecision on the matters at stake, and my personal ambivalence towards indefinite life extension more generally. Most paragraphs start by presenting a certain argument against cryonics, and then continue by analysing counterarguments, counterarguments to those counterarguments, and so on. Unlike many cryo-enthusiasts, I have made a conscious effort not to dismiss objections to cryonics by overestimating the great potential of future technologies, and I am not excessively optimistic about future scenarios. I have also taken great care to avoid leaning too far in the opposite direction, as cryo-sceptics tend to do, by not brushing aside the possibility that cryonics might work one day, nor conflating what is unusual with what is immoral.

  With this book, I have attempted to outline morally relevant aspects pertaining to cryonics, both as a medical procedure and as an intermediate step towards life extension. I have analysed moral issues about cryonics-related techniques and indefinite life extension, focusing on how they impact the individuals who undergo cryonics, the society they leave behind at the time of cryopreservation, and the society they are (potentially) revived into. At the same time, this book aims to be free from both the exceeding enthusiasm of some cryonicists and the disdain of some cryo-sceptics. Hence, what this book will not try to do is to convince anyone that cryonics is good or bad, nor to persuade anyone that they themselves should sign up for cryonics or cancel any cryonics arrangements they may already have. Moreover, this book will not offer a comprehensive introduction to cryonics in general, but only to the ethical aspects of cryonics and indefinite life extension. For this reason, non-ethical issues, such as technical aspects of the procedure, will be introduced only when relevant to the ethical analysis at hand.

  While this book is obviously relevant to people interested in undergoing cryonics upon legal death, it should not be relevant only to them. Thinking about cryonics and life extension leads us to think philosophically about the life we are currently living, not just about the one we might get to live if cryonics works, and also about the philosophical meaning of life and death.

  Contemplating the pros and cons of cryonics prompts a reflection on the circumstances under which we would accept to be cryopreserved, or about the circumstances under which we would want to be revived, in turn forcing us to think about what makes our life worth living right now . When confronted with the possibility of being revived after cryonics, only to find out that some of the information stored in our brain has been damaged or lost in the process, we cannot help but think about the very nature of that information—that unique combination of personality traits, memories, moral values, and desires that must somehow be maintained over time in order to rightfully say “ I made it, I survived”.

  Whatever constitutes a reason for wanting to be revived after cryonics, or for giving one more shot at life through cryonics, is also what motivates us to keep going when faced with life’s biggest challenges. Do we want to keep living out of curiosity, or out of hope about the future? Out of fear of death, or love of life? Out of a drive to finish what we’ve started, or because of the love we feel towards someone? By putting a relatively high monetary price on an extremely low chance of adding a potentially infinite number of years to our (future) life, cryonics sets a fascinatingly complex framework for a philosophical exploration of the meaning and value of life and death.

  In the context of more immediately salient social matters, cryonics may even hold some promise as a sword to cut a Gordian knot. Presented as an alternative to abortion and euthanasia, cryonics offers a new perspective on such divisive issues by suggesting that, while profound disagreements between people holding irreconcilable moral values might not be solved, they might nevertheless be circumvented.

  Francesca Minerva

  Ghent, Vlaams Brabant, Belgium

  Acknowledgements

  This book would not exist, or would surely be a much worse one, if I had not received the feedback and support of some truly wonderful people.

  The greatest debt of gratitude is towards Adrian Rorheim. He really did an incredible job proofreading and editing the manuscript. Not only did he turn my dry, non-native English academese into something much more pleasant to read, but he also provided me with interesting suggestions, comments, and feedback. He also proved to be incredibly patient dealing with my bouts of anxiety and last-minute requests, so I can’t stress enough how profoundly and sincerely grateful I am for the job he did.

  I would like to thank the welcoming, kind, and supportive community of cryonicists I found online. People say that the success of cryonics depends on the community of cryonicists; if that is the case, I am confident that cryonics will succeed. In particular, I received highly detailed and useful feedback on the first two chapters from Dr Mike Perry at Alcor, from Dr Aschwin de Wolf (also at Alcor), and from Mr Christopher Gillet. They have been incredibly generous with their time, and they have helped me achieve a result that is far better than I had initially hoped.

  I would like to thank Prof. Tom Buller and Dr Ole Martin Moen for their very helpful and insightful comments on Chap. 3 .

  I would like to thank the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) for supporting my research with a postdoctoral grant, and especially my supervisor Prof. Johan Braeckma
n for his constant and valuable support and help.

  I am also grateful to my editors at Palgrave, Rachel Krause and Kyra Saniewski, for their patience and their precious help.

  I would like to thank Dr Anders Sandberg . Over the years, we have talked at lenght about cryonics, and it is largely thanks to him that I felt confident enough to write this book (indeed, we co-authored two papers on this topic and are planning to write a third one). Few people have had a more considerable influence on this book than him, and for that I am forever grateful.

  I am also grateful beyond words to my husband and “partner in crime” Alberto for his detailed, insightful, and immensely helpful feedback on the whole manuscript—not to mention for his support and encouragement throughout the writing of this book. As usual, he has been extraordinarily patient, understanding, and loving.

  Finally, I want to thank my family for not caring that much about this book. That may sound sarcastic, but I mean it with the utmost sincerity. It often feels as though our value as individuals depends on our intellectual achievements. Being reminded that that is not the case—and that we are loved no matter what we achieve—is one of the highest privileges a person can enjoy.

  Contents

  Part I Cryonics as an Ethical Problem

  1 Pausing Death

  Weird Goals

  Starting and Ending Life in Liquid Nitrogen

  The Information-Theoretic Criterion of Death

  Public Scepticism Towards Biotechnology

  Against Nature

  Humans Should Not “Play God”

  Weirdness and Repugnance

  Uncertainty

  Only the Rich Will Be Able to Afford It

  References

  2 Resuming Life

  Objections to Cryonics

  Waste of Resources

  Waste of Organs for Transplants

  Waste of Money That Could Be Used for Donation to an Effective Charity

  Indifference of the Future

  No Interest in Spending Resources on Reviving the Cryopreserved

  No Interest in Developing Cryonics Technology

  No Interest in “Homo sapiens”

  Desirability of Being Revived in the Future

  Trouble Adapting Even to an Objectively Better World

  References

  Part II Cryonics as a Step Towards Immortality

  3 The Death Conundrum

  Is Death Bad?​

  Death as Transition to Nonexistence

  A Life Worth Starting and a Life Worth Living

  Whose Nonexistence?​

  Death as Deprivation

  The Harm of Deprivation

  The Plausible Counterfactuals

  Epistemic Disagreement About Plausible Counterfactuals

  Death as Deprivation of Negative Counterfactuals

  Death as Frustration of Desires

  References

  4 The Immortality Conundrum

  Different Types of Immortality

  What Would an Indefinitely Long Life Look Like?​

  Freedom from Regrets

  Personal Identity

  A Recognizably Human Life

  Would Virtual Immortality Deprive People of Eternity in Heaven?​

  Boredom

  Tiredness

  References

  Part III Alternative Uses of Cryonics

  5 Cryothanasia

  Objections to Euthanasia Applied to Cryothanasia

  Deontological

  Faith-Based

  Principles of Medical Ethics

  Weirdness and Repugnance

  Unlikelihood and Futility

  Resource Use

  References

  6 Cryosuspension of Pregnancy

  Giving Pregnant Women Another Option

  Would Objections to Abortion Apply to Cryosuspension of Pregnancy?​

  What Type of “Future Like Ours”?​

  Potentiality

  Killing an Innocent Is Always Impermissible

  Reproductive Technology

  Therapeutic Aid

  Adoption

  Ectogenesis

  Limits

  References

  Index

  Part I

  Cryonics as an Ethical Problem

  Introduction

  In this first part of the book, after briefly introducing how cryonics works and what kind of results it is expected to achieve, we will focus on the most common and most probable objections to cryonics. In Chap. 1, we will tackle the objections that are often raised against new biotechnologies in general when they are first introduced. Some of these objections deal with concerns about the fact that such new technologies are against nature or against God’s will or just plainly weird and yucky. Usually, after some time has passed by and a new biotechnology is no longer perceived as “new”, opposition based on these objections becomes weaker.

  Some other objections to new technologies stem from epistemic uncertainty about the impact they might have, either on the individual who uses them or on society at large. For instance, some are concerned that cryonics, even if successful, could cause severe and permanent brain damage to cryopreserved individuals, so that they might be unable to actually benefit from being brought back to life. Other objections based on uncertainty focus on the negative impact that such technology could have on society; for instance, given the current cost of cryonics, some fear that it will worsen the socio-economic disparity between those who can afford it and those who cannot.

  In the second chapter, we will focus on objections that pertain to cryonics more specifically. For instance, cryonics is often considered a waste of organs that could be donated and transplanted instead of being stored in cryonics facilities, and some also consider it a waste of monetary resources that could be donated to effective charities in order to save the lives of poor people.

  Finally, we will consider objections based on the idea that cryonics has zero chance of success. One of these objections is based on the idea that future generations will not have an interest, or will not have the resources necessary to revive the cryosuspended. The other set of objections is based on the assumption that people who would eventually be revived would never adapt to their new lives, and they would regret having invested money on cryonics.

  © The Author(s) 2018

  Francesca MinervaThe Ethics of Cryonicshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78599-8_1

  1. Pausing Death

  Francesca Minerva1

  (1)Philosophy and Moral Sciences, University of Ghent, Ghent, Vlaams Brabant, Belgium

  Abstract

  Cryonics is the act of preserving legally dead individuals at ultra-low temperatures, in the hope that they can someday be revived using future technology. Although still in its infancy, the potential success of cryonics carries many crucial implications for human society, and discussing these ahead of time may help us avoid unwelcome developments and unnecessary conflicts. However, the discussion around cryonics has not advanced significantly since its introduction over 50 years ago, and we must look to other advances in biotechnology for clues about how society should deal with cryonics. This chapter reviews the public response to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo cryopreservation (EC), two closely related medical technologies that have been available to the public for over 30 years and that share many relevant aspects with cryonics. Objections to IVF and EC have tended to fall into five broad categories: unnaturalness, playing God, repugnancy, uncertainty, and social inequality.

  Keywords

  CryonicsCryopreservationIVFBiotechnologiesMedical ethicsBioethics

  Weird Goals

  Whenever cryonics appears in the media, it is nearly always portrayed with a certain dose of scepticism, and is paired with such adjectives as “weird”, “crazy”, “fictional”, or “scammy”. For instance, a 2015 article in the Financial Times was titled “Inside the weird world of cryonics”, a headline not too different from that of a 2016 National Post article entitled “Inside the strange
world of cryonics, where people are ‘frozen in time’ with hopes of escaping death”. As anyone can independently verify through a quick Google search, similar headlines abound in the hundreds. Typically, the tone of the article is one of incredulity, often with a hint of derision and sometimes even outright contempt. The message usually goes along the lines of “there are some weird people planning to do this strange thing in order to achieve a crazy goal.”

  To be fair, the plan behind cryonics—also known as cryopreservation and cryosuspension—is quite ambitious. In short, the idea is that one can preserve legally dead individuals in liquid nitrogen and store them for decades or even centuries, in the hope that future technology will not only succeed in reviving them with their mental faculties intact, but also cure the condition that led to their demise in the first place. Among people choosing to undergo cryonics (henceforth referred to as cryonicists), the most optimistic ones hope that they, once revived, will have the option of undergoing various rejuvenating treatments, allowing them (at least in theory) to live indefinitely, or at least for many more years than they would have otherwise lived. As of 2018, cryonics companies already exist in the United States and Russia. Although countries differ in their legal requirements for allowing a citizen to be cryopreserved, the option is generally open to any autonomous, consenting adult willing to pay the fee required by the cryonics provider.