This article in the New York Times offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of the ultra-rich and ultra-powerful and their obsession with immortality.
None of the information here is really new, but it highlights some of the extraordinary efforts being made for the purpose of anti-aging anf life extension.
Is it possible to life forever? The question of course seems ridiculous. On the other hand, these kinds of crazy pursuits can lead to groundbreaking discoveries.
Consider this passage from the article:
Singapore, too, has emerged as a hub for experimental life extension, with longevity-focused venture funds like Immortal Dragons investing millions in biotech start-ups. In a recent interview with The Financial Times, the fund’s founder, Boyang Wang, revealed that one of the companies in his portfolio is working on “brainless clones.” The aim, he said, is to deliberately induce hydranencephaly, a disease in which infants are born without cerebral hemispheres but in which the basic functions of the body are in working order. “If we can trigger this artificially in the future, it might become a backup body for yourself. Imagine if we can do a brain transplant. Then this new body can become our second home.”
This all sounds farfetched, but billionaires like Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos and Bryan Johnson are all making massive investments in the life extension field.
The man perhaps most associated with this desire is Peter Thiel, who once outlined his interest in blood plasma transfusions from the young as a means of extending life. But more practically, and less vampirically, he has also invested many millions of venture capital dollars in various biotech concerns, seed-funding a flourishing Silicon Valley longevity ecosystem. “There are all these people,” as he put it to Business Insider in 2012, “who say that death is natural, it’s just part of life, and I think that nothing can be further from the truth.”
Their ambitions are even further fueled with the emergence of AI.
Where will all of this take us? Stay tuned . . .
