Silicon Valley’s quest for immortality is a mistake

Philosophy News

12/09/2024 4:18PM

Episode Synopsis "Silicon Valley’s quest for immortality is a mistake"

If you could live forever, would you? Modern medicine has allowed us to drastically increase our lifespans, and science doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Some in Silicon Valley have embarked on a “quest for immortality” in the hope that advances in medicine and technology will make eternal life possible. But if immortality became possible, would it necessarily be desirable? Philosopher Todd May argues that we should not hope to be immortal since it would make our lives shapeless, aimless, and boring. I like a good slice of pizza.  A lot.  Not that stuff you get from chain pizza places like Papa Johns or Domino’s.  No, a serious slice from a local place, preferably a little grungy looking, that doesn’t have another franchise down the block or even in another city.I could eat a good slice or two on most days.  And I could do that for many years.  But how many years?  Could I do it for three hundred years?  Probably.  Three thousand?  Maybe.  How about tw... The post Silicon Valley’s quest for immortality is a mistake appeared first on Philosophy News.

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