Neuroscientists Are Also Capable of Incoherent Arguments Against Cryonics

The objective is to preserve the fine structure of neural tissue and nerve cell connections that encode the data of the mind. Provided that is stored successfully, then foreseeable forms of technology will in the future enable restoration and repair of this tissue. Early cryonics involved straight freezing, which wrecks tissue due to ice crystal formation. Modern cryonics aims for as-complete-as-possible vitrification via cryoprotectants, a process that suppresses ice crystal formation. There is ample evidence based on present theories of neural data encoding to believe that the necessary information is being preserved, albeit not the final absolute proof that many demand. One has to be cautious of ascribing too much weight to the discussions of scientists who step beyond their fields; expertise in one area doesn't translate to the pronouncement of scripture for all areas. Indeed, if the error rates of scientific papers are anything to go by, one should think that a scientist's expertise enables them to be reasonably correct in their own specialty about half the time, and that after the expenditure of a great deal of work, collaboration, thought, and error-checking. Advancing the front lines of science is a challenging endeavor. For the purposes of the two articles I'll point out here, attacking and defending the scientific basis for cryonics, the boundaries of specialty and knowledge are such that a neurobiologist doesn't necessarily have the expertise in cryobiology to off...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Healthy Life Extension Community Source Type: blogs