American Cryonics Society          Since 1969

© 2008 The American Cryonics Society ▪ 20370 Town Center Lane #100, Cupertino, CA 95014

P.O. Box 1509, Cupertino, CA 95015 ▪  (408) 446-9001 ▪  cryonics@americancryonics.org

Myths & Legends

“Walt Disney was frozen”

 

As far as we know Walt Disney was never frozen.  He was interested in cryonics and had apparently made inquiries prior to his death which may account for the widespread perception that Walt was the first cryonaut.

 

“The frog in the cement”

 

There is an urban legend about frogs accidentally dumped into cement mix when the concrete for a drive way was laid down.  Many years later when the concrete was removed by jackhammer, the workmen observed the frogs “coming back to life” and hopping happily away.  If you have any further information on this purported phenomenon please let us know!

 

We have not been able to confirm or repute this legend, though it seems unlikely.  Frogs can withstand unusual extremes of dryness and cold giving them a kind of “suspended animation” of their own.

 

“There are tens of thousands of people in suspension”

 

No, there are fewer than 200 people in cryostats worldwide.  Because cryonics gets so much publicity there is a public perception that it is a lot more widely practiced.

 

“Cryonics companies are just after the money”

 

The American Cryonics Society has been in business since 1969, has contributed significantly to scientific research and has never been charged with illegal activity.  Because cryonics seems so fantastic some people assume that it must be a fraud.  Cryonics is speculative.  We can’t prove that it will work and we make no guarantees.  Before choosing cryonics we want people to take the time to study and carefully think through this option.  For the most part, our members are highly intelligent, well educated folks who love life and want more of it.  We are a member run organization with carefully designed safeguard procedures for funds.

 

“Only rich people can afford to be frozen”

 

The goal of the American Cryonics Society is to make cryonics affordable for everyone.  By use of life insurance, most students and working people can make pre-need arrangements.  One member compared the cost to that of having a cup of latte and a breakfast roll each morning!   There are also some cryonics plans for folks whose state of health makes them ineligible for life insurance.  That said, cryonics is not free or cheap and there is no government program that covers cryonics. 

 

“Cryonics is at odds with religion”

 

Many people of faith are enrolled in our pre-need program.  We use the word “reanimate” not “resurrect” when we talk about the possibility of future recovery.  If frozen people are truly dead then there will be no future recover in the cryonics sense.  If they are ever reanimated then, from a religious or philosophical point of view, they will be no different than a person who recovers from a coma.  They were not dead, but just had the appearance of death.  In point of fact, there are now hundreds of people who were frozen as embryos now living and (presumably) loved by God.

 

“Only people afraid of death want to be frozen”

 

There is no evidence that the people who chose cryonics are any more or less afraid of death than others.  It seems to be the love of life not the fear of death that moves people to sign up for cryonics.

 

“Cryonics just freezes people’s heads”

 

Most of our members have made arrangements for their whole bodies to be frozen and most suspensions sponsored by the American Cryonics Society have been whole body freezings. Whole body suspension is currently the only option offered by the American Cryonics Society, though we allow members to express a preference for the “neuropreservation” option on their sign-up forms in case this option becomes available sometime in the future.

 

It has been argued that isolating the head or brain allows for a more controlled freezing of brain tissue, which (goes the argument) constitutes the “self”.  The present preservation procedure allows technicians to concentrate on vitrifying or freezing the brain and head but without the trauma of separation. We think this is the preferred model, but ask us again in 100 years!

 

“If the heart stops more than a few minutes there is irreparable brain damage”

 

While we would like to start the cryonics procedure as soon after death as is possible, the practice of cryonics does not depend upon maintaining the viability of brain tissue.  Rather, it depends upon being able to recover the information encoded in the brain.  This encoding may be in the neural weave which appears to remain intact after freezing.

 

Several experiments indicate that the brain tissue is not much different than that of other organs in its susceptibility to oxygen deprivation and the recovery period after the heart stops can be extended considerably.  We will be glad to mail you an information pack that details these studies.

For emergency suspension instructions, please click here.