The Prospect of Immortality - Fifty Years Later

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The Prospect of Immortality - Fifty Years Later is "the definitive anthology in cryonics, full stop." . "Cryonics is an experiment. So far the control group isn't doing very well." . The Prospect of Immortality - Fifty Years Later is edited by Charles Tandy, Ph.D. ................... This 534-paged anthology is a fifty year celebration and update of Robert Ettinger's 1964 cryonics classic, The Prospect of Immortality. The Prospect of Immortality was published by Doubleday in 1964 after being vetted as scientifically plausible by none other than the famous pseudoscience debunker, Isaac Asimov. Its author, Robert Ettinger, became known rather quickly as the father of cryonics. Ettinger himself has now been in cryonic hibernation since 2011. The first cryonaut, James Bedford, has been in cryonic hibernation since 1967. Hopefully at some point in time, it will become feasible to place cryonauts in suspended animation instead of in cryonic hibernation. ................... Healthspan extension and enhancement is the goal of cryonics. Cryonics is a biomedical experiment in long-term suspended animation or practical time travel. It is based on our present state of knowledge of existing technology and on our present state of knowledge of future technology. Accordingly, "unbelievable" experimental results should not prove surprising. Biomedically, this is a case where the experimental group has much to recommend it over the control group. ................... The present update, after fifty years, includes seven parts totalling 18 chapters: ..... ..... 1. Redefining Death Amid Biomedical Advance ..... ..... 2. Scientific Justification Of Cryonics Practice ..... 3. Temperature Effects On Medical Nanorobots ..... 4. The Technology Of Revival, Repair, And Rejuvenation ..... ..... 5. Buddhism And Cryonics ..... 6. Christianity And Cryonics ..... ..... 7. Cryonics Law In The Service Of Cryonics Care: The Swiss Option ..... 8. How To Protect Your Cryonics Arrangements From Interference By Third Parties ..... 9. Legal Issues With Cryonic Suspension ..... ..... 10. How Has The Cryonics Institute Weathered The Economic Ups And Downs Since Its Inception? ..... 11. The Economics Of Immortality Revisited ..... 12. Long-Term Survival Of The Alcor Life Extension Foundation ..... 13. Ettinger's Void ..... 14. How Has The American Cryonics Society Weathered The Economic Ups And Downs Since Its Inception? ..... ..... 15. The Wonder Of Indeterminacy ..... 16. The Self Persistent: Rethinking Ettinger's Position On The Problem Of Identity ..... 17. Non-Cruciality Of Personal Identity: Immortality As Possibility ..... ..... 18. There's No Place Like "Fhome" - A Personal View Of Our Future-Home: The Pilgrim's Progress ................... The editor's postscript, entitled How Presentday Ethics And Laws May Be Used To Support Your Right To Cryonic Hibernation, begins on page 491. The INDEX begins on page 507. On page 519, there begins an Addendum: Scientists' Open Letter On Cryonics.