Silicon Valley Has the Secret to Eternal Life
December 27, 2017
Walt Disney envisioned his namesake park, Walt Disney World, to be a blueprint for the city of the future. Disney was a keen futurist and was interested in new technology that could improve his studios and theme parks. His futuristic tendencies led to the urban legend that he was cryogenically frozen and will one day be revived. Disney wasn’t put on the ice, but his futuristic visions are carried out by Silicon Valley technologists seeking immortality. Quartz reports on the key to eternal life in the article, “Seeking Eternal Life, Silicon Valley Is Solving For Death.”
Death is the ultimate problem that has yet to be solved. Many in Silicon Valley, including Oracle’s Larry Ellison, are searching for a solution to prolong life with anti-aging research. Bill Maris convinced Alphabet’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin to start Calico, Google’s billion-dollar effort to cure aging. Also, cryogenics remains popular:
Other denizens of the valley pursue cryogenics or cryonics, which is the process of freezing oneself in a vat of liquid nitrogen soon after death. They do this in the hope that it will suspend them in time, preserving them for a future when science can bring them back to life. There are about 350 people already frozen worldwide with another 2,000 signed up—but yet to die.
Medical breakthroughs have already extended the US lifespan and that of other developed nations. Developing nations still have short lifespans and it draws the conclusion that wealthier people will live forever, while the poor ie quicker. It is questionable that the extra years tacked onto people’s lives are really worth it because many people spend them unable to care for themselves or in pain.
The article spins into current anti-aging research, then into philosophy about humans vs. machines and what makes a person a person. Throw in some science-fiction and that is the article in short.
Whitney Grace, December 27, 2017
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Kekule, famous for his dream-inspired scientific breakthrough—discovering the molecular structure of benzene, advised his fellow scientists: “Let us learn to dream, gentlemen.”