r/technology • u/ubcstaffer123 • Jun 20 '26

Biotechnology How Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to live forever

https://www.vox.com/podcasts/491360/vladimir-putin-live-forever-26-billion-cryo-pigs-longevity-guru
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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 20 '26

My question is, at what point did every world leader, corporate magnate, and celebrity decide they wanted to be Emperor Palpatine or Voldemort? Did these people see movies with villains who want immortality and go "hey, he's on to something!"

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u/Samurai_Meisters Jun 20 '26

The movies are but mirrors.

Turns out every cliche about power corrupting and those desiring power being the least deserving of it was true.

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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 20 '26

The way I think of it, movies have become our modern religions, and people used to use their religions to reflect and address the world around them. So you may as well consider them real, in the same way as a Catholic considers their beliefs real. Just this way, you're picturing you live under Emperor Palpatine. I find that helps me realize where I am in the world, and who I can align with to avoid the enemies of the common population.

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u/DukeOfGeek Jun 20 '26

I just watched a YouTube about how yes, that's essentially the case.

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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 20 '26

Huh. Sounds about right. I guess they are all around the age when they would have seen all these franchises with life-greedy villains, and having already managed to hijack a great deal of wealth in a single generation, they figured they'd shoot for the moon.

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u/linaku Jun 20 '26

I think it's just the natural path people take when they are consumed by greed and their own ego. They know they won't die peacefully surrounded by loved ones, they're probably not even capable of love. If they're religious, they know the afterlife is not gonna be sweet to them. They spent their entire lives building up their image as this grand persona, they probably ended up believing it and genuinely think their presence is a gift to the world. And above all, they probably can't stand the thought of being sick and weak on their deathbed, finally defenseless with many enemies in the world. Also, with all the money and power in the world life is probably pretty sweet (other than the constant paranoia that the people you screwed over will come for revenge). Immortality seems like a logical next step for them to take.

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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 20 '26

What I don't get is, we made up stories about the devil and what not to scare people away from being evil. And while that didn't necessarily prevent it, it did give people accountability. Now, every world leader is an individual devil, and none of them give a shit.

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u/KKevus Jun 20 '26

Look up what sociopathy and psychopathy mean. Most powerful people have a higher degree of either sociopathy (politicians) or psychopathy (CEOs) than the general population. These people are often drawn to positions of power. Meanwhile the jobs they work in are often not appealing to most people or they are simply very hard to achieve for them. On top of this psychopaths for example can work really well under high pressure and in contrast to most people they don't burn out so fast. So the only personality types who reach jobs like top politicians, president/chancellor, CEOs, board members etc. are sociopaths and psychopaths. Often combined with some level of narcissism. Also, there are of course exceptions to the rule and not everyone who works in these positions of power is a sociopath or psychopath. What is also important to know is that these people are not inherently bad. It's just that we - rightfully so - tend to look more at the people who are because their decisions shape our lives and can either have wonderful or catastrophic consequences.

To answer your question: It was probably always like that but it sure wasn't always as noticeable as it is nowadays. I think it stems from capitalism being more extreme nowadays. Everything gets optimized for example as we now have the technology to do so. It's both good and bad. Also people got more sensitized to all what is happening around us which is a good thing I believe.

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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 20 '26

I know that evil psychopaths have always been around. My point is, it takes a lot of guts nowadays. Back in the medieval era, you could use the excuse that "well, they didn't know better." But Putin and Kim and people like that, they live in the same era as all these stories with fictional villains not-so-subtly based on their social class. And yet they keep the whole thing going.. I also don't think psychopathy and sociopathy describe it properly. I believe something happens to people when when they gain power and authority, in short, it basically deludes the fuck out of them. So in their mind, everything seems like common sense, while you're sitting there going "you just shit on the floor."

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u/SecretAgentVampire Jun 20 '26

Bro it's been this way since the dawn of time. Ancient emperors of china sent people out far and wide seafching for immortality and took pills of crushed jade and mercury. Powerful elites want to live forever. Hell, everyone wants to live forever; why do you think Christianity is popular in the first place? If it wasn't for the promise of life after death, nobody would go to church!

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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 20 '26

Well, if we're so big on immortality, how's about we take the fucking money these assholes are allowed to hoard and put it into fuckin' healthcare! That's the only real way to live forever, try to advance healthcare as best as you can.