The Quest for Immortality.
The ultimate ambition of Emperors, God kings, and CEOs.
The search for eternal life has forever been the quest of the rich, powerful, and influential.
We can start by going back to ancient China more than 2000 years ago. Qin Shi Huang had changed history by unifying the various warring states into what would now emerge as China.
He had unified the known world and presided over an empire of unprecedented might. His mortal success was complete. Despite his vast power and majesty, he was yet faced with the most inconvenient of mortal issues.
One day he would die.
The first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, desperately sought immortality. He sent out executive decrees to search for a fabled elixir to grant him eternal life.
Desperate to reign for eternity, he sent his legions across the land to seek solutions to solve his inevitable death.
Advised by alchemists and advisors, he even drank mercury to prolong his life. Ironically this potion took to prolong his life indefinitely probably shortened it significantly.
Enter Jeff Bezos
In many ways, Jeff Bezos has also conquered the equivalent of his mortal world. Presiding over a vast commercial empire and even briefly visiting outer space in a rocket capsule. He is worth over a hundred billion dollars. He is one of the potential candidates expected to emerge as the world’s first trillionaire.
With his mortal ambitions meeting fruition and his future goals requiring more time, Jeff Bezos has now encountered the same inconveniences of mortality. Just as the Ancient Chinese emperor did thousands of years ago.
In a televised leadership forum interview in 2018, Jeff Bezos cheekily declared when asked about his legacy that he wanted to be the oldest man alive. It was met with a chorus of chuckles, but one needs only to look at his recent investment choices to consider the fact that he may not have been joking after all.
Instead of seeking a magical elixir or the council of alchemists, Mr. Bezos has instead decided to place his faith in science and money. The goal may be the same, but the means to attain it have modernized in the last few thousand years.
Jeff Bezos has an ancient quest to undertake. He has likely never encountered an issue that’s impossible to solve through ingenuity, science, and money.
Why should death be any different?
The science is feasible.
This isn’t quite science fiction. Although it may sound like it. Altos’ labs are experimenting with cell regeneration and have hired a team of impressive scientists with highly inflated salaries. The company has fundraised over 3 billion dollars with Jeff Bezos as a highly involved doner.
The company has already created some impressive results in creating their very own “Elixir of life” experimenting with mice. The cells of the mice were treated with proteins known as Yamanaka factors. Although some mice developed dangerous tumors called teratomas. In other mice, observations suggest that their tissue had indeed become younger.
The march of science is indeed unstoppable. Marvels, which were science fiction in our parent’s time, are now commonplace. The notion of what is possible is becoming an increasingly stretched concept.
A terrifying vision of the future.
Let’s try to imagine a wonderfully terrifying version of how this could turn out.
First, let’s step back a few thousand years again. Qin Shi Huang obviously was not successful in his quest, and what was the result? His death also resulted in the end of his Dynasty and the emergence of another.
The subsequent Dynasty was the fabled Han Dynasty that ruled China for hundreds of years. The Han Dynasty is one of the most influential and successful periods of early Chinese history. Its contribution to art, expansion and Chinese Culture is incomparable. If Qin Shi Huang had succeeded, would the history of China be the same?
Could the ancient society have blossomed and thrived in the same way with the same ruler for thousands of years?
If Jeff Bezos became the eternal tech emperor, what does that mean for our collective future? The future that by rights belongs to the next generation?
As the secret of eternal life is cracked, it will spread amongst the powerful and influential, no doubt out of reach of the common man. An age of stagnation stretching into the distant future. The opportunities of the young are hoarded by ancients who refuse to give way. Who’s time never comes.
What would allow society to renew and rejuvenate if the great equalizer is taken out of the equation?
What will this mean for the mortal man and equality when the wealthiest and most powerful can amass a wealth of not just a lifetime but over several.
Death is terrifying for most of us. It is also the most natural of human experiences. Death is a necessary part of growth. Not our own but for society and mankind. To have a finite life is one of humanity’s greatest gifts. It makes time scarce and precious.
It makes life worth living.
Talking about a life worth living check out this article by Daniella Cressman about Betty White. It explores the secret of staying young in the heart without genetically altering cells. It’s the secret to facing old age with dignity and acceptance.