4 ms·

How do I _prevent_ an autopsy from being performed on me? As a cryonicist, I find what is being advocated for very scary...

• vdaniuk 11y ago
  Why would you?
• peter303 11y ago
  It is no longer "you" when your body is dead.
  • ivank 11y ago
    You brain still has all of "you" when you're legally dead though, at least for a few hours, probably longer if cooled properly. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information-theoretic_death http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information-theoretic_death
  • maaku 11y ago
    Legal death is not the same as biological death.
• ggreer 11y ago
  You may not remember, but part of the cryo signup process involves declaring a religious objection to autopsy.[1] (No state has an irreligious objection to autopsy, but they don't ask for specifics.) In California, a court order is required to override it. I don't think that has ever happened. A medical examiner would only go to the courts if you were patient zero in some sort of outbreak. 1. http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/certificateofreligiousbelief.html http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/certificateofreligiousbeli...
  • mikeash 11y ago
    Using a religious objection for this seems appropriate. The belief that you can live forever by if your body is frozen after death is more or less the same as the belief that you can live forever if your body is intact and you worshipped the right deity.
    • ggreer 11y ago
      I don't want to stray too far from the original topic, but your equivocation is unwarranted. Unlike religions, cryonics actually has evidence behind it. Modern cryoprotectants allow for accurate preservation of brain nanostructure. Axons and even synaptic vesicles are kept intact. In fact, Alcor's cryopreservation protocols have already been used successfully on small mammal organs, such as rabbit kidneys.[1] Kidneys are harder to preserve than brains, as they have less vasculature to allow saturation with cryoprotectants. Does all this mean that pumping a brain full of cryoprotectants and cooling it to -196°C will preserve its memories? Possibly, but we don't know. Cryobiologists and cryonics researchers readily admit this, and they're working to find the answer.[2] If that sort of thinking is religious, then call me a zealot. 1. http://www.21cm.com/pdfs/12FahyORG5-3%5B1%5D.pdf http://www.21cm.com/pdfs/12FahyORG5-3%5B1%5D.pdf 2. https://vimeo.com/22766034 https://vimeo.com/22766034 Starting around 33:05, Dr. Brian Wowk talks about memory preservation. He's quite frank about the fact that there's not proof, just a good likelihood that current methods preserve memory and personality. Then he outlines some next steps for research.
      • qqqgg 11y ago
        There's not yet evidence in favour of brain function being preserved though, even if the structure seems somewhat intact. Anyway, many electron microscopy studies show that even in ideal laboratory conditions, cryoprotected tissue always has some amount of freeze damage to its structure, despite some areas being beautifully preserved. Humans have it even worse than the average lab rat, as there is always going to be a greater amount of post-mortem delay - during which the brain is undergoing ischaemic damage. Cryonics is an interesting area of research, but the claims of being able to preserve memory and personality are really quite unfounded at this point.
      • MrZongle2 11y ago
        May I respectfully suggest that if the capability to revive a cryonically preserved human does not currently exist, then current proponents of the practice are placing their faith in the possibility that the capability will exist in the future? Not a religion in the traditional sense, but as humanity currently lacks the ability to reproduce the intended result, the practice relies highly on belief. Regardless, if claiming a religious exemption from autopsy allows one to "hack" the legal system to achieve ones goal ... why not do it? I have a hard time finding a possible victim in such a circumstance.
• gmarx 11y ago
  Tell your family not to consent to it
• niels_olson 11y ago
  You need to die a natural death and have been seen by your physician within the last year and they have to be willing to sign the death certificate. All other bodies become the coroner's jurisdiction. They can waive them, or they may do an external examination only, but once they have jurisdiction, it's out of your hands. Even then, at least in San Diego, the medical examiner reviews all death certificates and they occasionally pull one in due to something sounding fishy.