I want to spend a few weeks seriously looking into cryonics: how it works, the costs, the theory about revival, the changes in the technology in the past 60 years, the options that are available.
I want to become an expert in cryonics to the extent that I can answer, in depth, the questions that people typically have when they hear about this “crazy idea” for the first time. {Hmm...That sounds a little like bottom-line reasoning, trying to prepare for objections, instead of ferreting out the truth. I’ll have to be careful of that. To be fair, I will need to overcome objections to get my family to sign up. Still, be careful of looking for data just to affirm my naive presumption.}
I want to spend a few weeks seriously looking into cryonics: how it works, the costs, the theory about revival, the changes in the technology in the past 60 years, the options that are available.
I want to become an expert in cryonics to the extent that I can answer, in depth, the questions that people typically have when they hear about this “crazy idea” for the first time. {Hmm...That sounds a little like bottom-line reasoning, trying to prepare for objections, instead of ferreting out the truth. I’ll have to be careful of that. To be fair, I will need to overcome objections to get my family to sign up. Still, be careful of looking for data just to affirm my naive presumption.}
What should I read?
Ralph Merkle’s cryonics page is a good place to start. His 1994 paper on The Molecular Repair of the Brain seems to be the most technical explanation of why it looks feasible.
Since whole brain emulation is expected to use many of the same techniques, that roadmap (long pdf) is worth looking at.
Read Chronospause, Cryonics, and Mike Darwin’s comment history. Mike Darwin is very, very based.
If you still want more, try reading all the articles under the “cryonics” tag and gwern’s “Plastination versus Cryonics”.