Cryonics is the science of preserving the body or head of a human or animal after death. The body (or head) is essentially frozen with the hope that someday technology will exist to breathe life into the tissue once again.
It is kind of difficult to understand why someone would want to come back to life as a “talking head” with an understanding of culture as it existed hundreds of years in what would be the past once he or she was resuscitated. But as they say, different strokes for different folks.
One of these folks is former American Idol judge Simon Cowell. The caustic, smirking Englishman made a reputation for himself as the judge who had no reservations about sharing his opinions bluntly with the contestants without regard to how his remarks may hurt their feelings.
It turns out that Cowell wants to have his body cryonically preserved because he thinks that his reemergence could be of great value to his country (at least that’s one of the reasons). According to the Daily Mail he made this announcement in a conversation with guests at a dinner party that he attended that was being thrown by the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
“Medical science is bound to work out a way of bringing us back to life in the next century or so, and I want to be available when they do. I would be doing the nation an invaluable service,” Cowell reportedly said.
Questions arise from an estate planning standpoint when you consider the implications of cryonics. Is a person who is cryonically frozen legally dead? At the present time, the answer is yes. And how do you set aside funds so that you can pay your way if you are brought back to life? What will it take to rent a flat in 2222?
This is an interesting subject and at the present time it is not a pressing one, because only about 200 people have gone this route as of 2010.
Larry Parman
Author, President and Founding Attorney
Parman & Easterday
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