information-theoretic death

{{Short description|Term of art in cryonics}}

{{one source|date=May 2025}}

Information-theoretic death is a term of art used in cryonics to define death in a way that is permanent and independent of any future medical advances, no matter how distant or improbable that may be. Because detailed reading or restoration of information-storing brain structures is beyond current technology, the term lacks practical importance in contemporary medicine.{{cite book| title=Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are |author=Sebastian Seung |author-link=Sebastian Seung |publisher=Houghton Mifflin | year = 2012| pages = 271| isbn=9780547678597| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXwEuoYl3wQC&q=%22information-theoretic%20death%22&pg=PA271| quote=Merkle's definition of death is of more philosophical than practical importance. To apply it, we need to know exactly how memories, personality, and other aspects of personal identity are stored in the brain.}}

== See also ==

• Lost media