CRYONICS AND THE DIGNITY OF HUMAN LIFE: AN ETHICAL APPRAOCH

Abstract

Science in the modern period has so much developed and made serious inroad into the attempt of life preservation with all the risk involved. In the area of medicine, Euthanasia is no longer the only way in the face of death rather alternatives are being investigated, discovered and practiced. Cryonics being one of those alternatives preserves the body with the hope of reviving those in the future using advanced medical technologies. No matter how fascinating this project may appear, it has only given false hope to the fears of the relatives of the dead. The greater problem being the manner these bodies and brains are preserved. That has given rise to questions like: when the bodies are revived, will they still be normal human being or zombies?, does it guarantee the revival of all the organs of the body without some malfunctioning? Above all, has it ever been successful and will it ever be successful? To answer these questions properly, we employed the method of analysis. Our findings showed that cryonics is simply one of those scientific experiments which have yielded no result other than giving false hope to the dead and their relatives. It is also a waste of time and an economic waste considering the resources being pumped into it. I therefore recommend that cryonics and other scientists should see death as an inevitable and natural part of human experience that informs the way we live our short lives on earth, without seeking for prolonged lives unto futility.