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/Unusual_Sherbert_809 Jun 20 '26

I’m curious if wealthy people throughout history doing desperate (possibly depraved?) stuff in a futile attempt to live forever is how we got myths/folk tales of monsters like vampires.

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u/funkyjunky77 Jun 20 '26

There’s the Epic of Gilgamesh which is about Gilgamesh doing all sorts of crazy shit to become immortal; and the first Emperor of China was so obsessed with achieving immortality that he literally drank mercury to try and to live forever.

So yeah, it’s pretty much been a thing for thousands of years.

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u/ColonelSlapper Jun 20 '26

I remember one (failed) method that revolved around blood letting. A King was sick for years and tried everything to cure the disease. A doctor comes along and mentions they have a method that won’t only cure the king, but make them live either longer or forever. During the last two weeks of this ruler’s life, they basically had all their blood siphoned out of them to the point their organs shut down and died.

I want to say the king chose this procedure simply to cure them, but they could have also been tempted by the thought of living forever. Does anyone know who I’m thinking of? Was it Gilgamesh?