Life Extension Pursuits of the One Percent Miss the Point Completely

What do eliminating cancer and infectious diseases, genetic modification, cryonics and artificial brains that retain original human personality have in common? All these ventures are being funded by some of the world’s wealthiest and most death-phobic people.

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Peter Thiel, the founder of PayPal, whose estimated net worth tallies $2 billion, was quoted by the New Yorker in 2015 as saying, “Probably the most extreme form of inequality is between people who are alive and people who are dead… basically, I’m against [death].” Similarly, Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, was quoted in this AlterNet article as saying, “Death has never made any sense to me.” From Thiel’s grant-making organization Breakout Labs to Ellison’s Lawrence Ellison Foundation to a field that includes Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, anti-aging and death-prevention technology is finding new life. But the rationale beyond the efforts is questionable, at best.

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While research to prevent age-related suffering seems like a good and noble goal on the surface, there are several considerations that run counter to this so-called scientific “progress.” One is the cost associated with this research; for example, Ellison alone has contributed over $400 million. Another is the limited number of people who will benefit. Ken Dychtwald, a longevity and gerontology expert, is quoted in Time Magazine saying that, “really rich people are going to get access to [the fruits of this research]… Imagine a time when ten thousand really rich people get to live forever, or not have to get dementia.” As per current economic trends, anti-aging services and products will likely come with a high price tag that reflects the research that has gone into creating them.

Bill Gates has suggested on Reddit that it’s egocentric to seek immortality, and that the world’s wealthiest would better serve themselves and the rest of humanity by putting their dollars behind helping normal people — especially those who are dying from currently curable diseases like malaria and tuberculosis — live normal lifespans. It is also worth noting that our planet’s resources are already over-strained supporting the natural lifespans of over 7 billion people.

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An adverse attitude toward death is life-suppressing rather than life-promoting, if we consider that a finite lifespan encourages us to value the time we do have in our human bodies. If a person’s whole life is spent seeking to prolong it, then that life is full of discontent in each moment, and the gifts of life are not seen or enjoyed. As the young adult’s book Tuck Everlasting teaches, the curses of immortality are matched only by the sweetness of things which do not last.