Information-theoretic death

Information-theoretic death is a concept from the field of Cryonics that refers to the point at which the information within a brain is so disrupted that recovery of the original person becomes theoretically impossible. It is a more stringent criterion for death than clinical death or legal death, and is used by advocates of cryonics to argue for the urgency of immediate cooling and chemical stabilization following cardiac arrest.

Definition

The concept of information-theoretic death was first proposed by Robert Ettinger in his book The Prospect of Immortality. Ettinger argued that the traditional definitions of death are inadequate for the modern age, as they do not take into account the possibility of future medical technologies being able to restore life to a body that would currently be considered dead.

Information-theoretic death occurs when the structures in the brain that encode personality and long-term memory are so disrupted that it is no longer possible in principle to restore them to a functioning state. In other words, a person is considered information-theoretically dead when their mind, as encoded by the brain's structure, cannot be recovered.

Implications for Cryonics

The concept of information-theoretic death is central to the practice of cryonics. Cryonicists argue that as long as the brain's structure is preserved, there is the possibility that future technology could restore the person to life. Therefore, they advocate for immediate cooling and chemical stabilization of the brain after cardiac arrest, in order to prevent the brain's structure from deteriorating to the point of information-theoretic death.

Criticism

The concept of information-theoretic death has been criticized on several grounds. Some argue that it is based on speculative and unproven assumptions about the nature of consciousness and identity. Others argue that even if the concept is theoretically sound, the practical difficulties of preserving the brain's structure in sufficient detail to allow for future revival are insurmountable.

See also

• Brain death
• Cryopreservation
• Neuroscience
• Identity and change

Information-theoretic death Resources
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