Silicon Valley’s Quest to Live Forever Has Many Warring Factions (Bloomberg)

I think they are overblowing the conflict between the groups, though tension definitely does exist… the biotech scientists think that the immortalists (lifespan maximizers) are creating false expectations (that have never been met and smell of “snake oil”, the immortalists think the biotech people are too conservative and point to cancer where people have frequently spoken about the goal being “a cure for cancer” even though that is likely only far in the future… without stigma.

Although it can be easy to reduce the various longevity efforts to one big blob of existential dread powered by money and fragile male egos, the community includes cliques with very different aims. Some are focused on extending the average human life by a modest range. Others are more conservative, promising only to add more “health span,” meaning healthier years within a natural time frame. And some go fully eternal, promising—with typical Silicon Valley restraint—to build their own sovereign-ish state where they plan to master and defeat death. “We’ve accepted aging and death as inevitable, and now there’s a very good reason to believe they will be solved,” says Adam Gries, an investor focused on longevity. “The only question is when.”

The factions…

To keep track of the different factions, we’ll give them some nicknames.
In one corner are the Biotechs…
Then there are the Wellness Obsessives. (Bryan Johnson)
Both the Biotechs and the Wellness Obsessives are at pains to emphasize that they still expect to die. For the Radicals, that’s loser talk.

Full article: https://archive.ph/6f8HB#selection-4811.0-4811.747

3 Likes

Put me also in this category. in our lifetime we will witness living at 120-130 as being normal or same as it is now living 90-100. so, a good 30-40% life extension and being healthy is doable with what we know now, but one needs a lot of discipline, and be also willing to experience rather some pretty adverse situations. Swimming in the ocean in middle of January would be beneficial for longevity, and while I have tried in the past, I still don’t do it. Or eating only 1500 calories a day (for me that I do little activity) is another thing that would be an immense help, yet I rarely do it. So, our natural instinct is to self destruct, or self-demise (evolutions way making us disappear when we add no value to society, or the species) and going against it is really hard. In other words, I’m pretty convinced that i can easily live to 120 years old, yet i have less than 5% confidence that I will do the right things that take me there. Bless those that can make themselves do what goes against their comfort zone. lol If you can’t muster enough will power to move far and away from your comfort zone it will be very hard to pass the 100 mark.

1 Like