Jeff Bezos seems to want to live forever – just be careful what you wish for

Eternal life is overrated, writes Salma Shah – it would be an utterly boring existence

Billionaire Jeff Bezos has reportedly invested in an ‘age reversal’ company (Getty Images)

True to modern billionaire form, Jeff Bezos has reportedly invested in an “age reversal” company. Not content with space, it seems the rich and eccentric genius is going to disrupt the actual concept of time by supporting science that aims at “rejuvenating” the body.

He wouldn’t be the first. Larry Page, the Google co-founder, has also invested in a “reprogramming lab”. There is real money in this research. It’s safe to say this technology is not advanced, but is being investigated in the belief that the possibilities are more real than we’ve ever imagined.

We should retain a healthy dose of scepticism and not fall into the trap of expecting eternal life and limitless beauty. Not least because it’s built on an assumption that nothing better will come after Jeff and friends. Talk about entitlement and ego – Can we not believe that we’re the sum total of everything that humankind has to offer?

Let’s consider the pure mechanics, think about the climate impact. I thought the billionaires were conscious of the environmental impact of population growth. If no one ever dies, how do we sustain our resources? We would be exacerbating the issues we’re already facing with overcrowding and shortages.

Of course, the idea of eternal life has had a long history of scientific, but also mythical endeavour. It’s painfully romanticised – take vampire stories about the undead having a gay old time living through the ages, travelling the world with limitless freedom, but then of course realising they lack anything meaningful. Literature has also taught us, through Dorian Gray and Harry Potter, that most times it’s the baddies that want to live forever.

The growing fad of extreme life extensionists is a reminder this obsession to live is not exclusively limited to the Silicon Valley billionaires, but regular Joes who find death patently unfair. This is a hatred of loss, but also extreme Fomo. If we start meeting aliens or discovering how to make gold or are on the cusp of discovering time travel, these extreme lifers want to be there to witness it, not let a silly thing like death get in the way.

If Shakespeare were alive today, what would he think/say/write? Wouldn’t it have been marvellous to have seen what else was up his sleeve or what other things he might have created if allowed to experience a different time? But people are of their time and transposing them elsewhere or allowing them to ferment over centuries guarantees very little. Perhaps if the Bard were alive today, he’d have become a social media addict with writer’s block...

Maintaining life indefinitely would be so utterly dreary too – all the juicing and exercise, but very little fun. Or the opposite, just too much fun without any of the negative consequences. How can one rebel or enjoy hedonism without the roulette of near certain death? And if you’ve ever experienced ennui, imagine the magnification of that for eternity!

Even if you live forever, what happens to the rest of the earth? According to forecasts of the sun’s energy changes, the planet will be crisp and golden in a 100 million years. That is a big bet on extra-terrestrial living. Otherwise, you’ll be spending a lot of time struggling to cultivate so much as a fava bean.

Sure, this technology may have lots of uses, such as improving quality of life through health advances. But it’s not all about living forever – after all, who would want to?

Salma Shah was special adviser to Sajid Javid from 2018 to 2019. She was also a special adviser at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport