Humanity has spent hundreds of thousands of years searching for immortality. From tales as old as Gilgamesh, living forever has long been a goal, and modern day billionaires are hoping to turn themselves into immortal billionaires.
Immortality research has taken off again in recent years. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has infamously invested heavily in technology to live forever, damn the consequences.
Anti-aging research could help to increase lifespans of everyone, but with the mega-rich behind the scenes, there are fears that anti-aging could be locked to billionaires. But that’s not the only fear regarding immortal billionaires.
Bioethicist experts are worried that expanding the lifespans of the mega rich exponentially could directly harm the economy. With wealth inequality already atrocious, the rich could compound their wealth for time immemorial.
Speaking to The Financial Times, bioethicist Christopher Wareham explained that billionaire’s ability to increase their wealth even more than usual is more than dangers.
“Suppose, for example, we had a kind of vaccine for the pandemic of age,"he said. "This is going to potentially exacerbate all the kinds of existing inequalities that we have... The longer you're around, the more your wealth compounds, and the wealthier you are, the more political influence you have."
Bezos’ investment in Atlos Labs’ anti-aging research may never result in the bald billionaire’s life being extended. However, if the research is successful, and kept exclusively behind high prices, then the technology will only exist to make the rich even richer.
"If this is going to be a gazillion dollars' worth of treatment for a handful of people it is of no interest,” Wareham said.
Jeff Bezos is far from the only billionaire investing in anti-aging. On the other hand, there are some billionaires that are against the technology, such as Elon Musk. Instead, he wants to inject everyone with brain chips…
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