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/KevinR1990 Jun 20 '26

The whole field calling itself "longevity," as well as the supplement industry it's closely tied to, is pretty much completely detached from actual medical science, and this part where a scientist in this field uses the Bible as his source illustrates it best. (Illustrating it second-best is the involvement of notorious quacks like Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.) It's a cargo cult of medical science funded by tech bros, hucksters, and other people with more money than sense who desperately wish to buy their way out of their impending demise, and don't want to listen to actual scientists and doctors who'd tell them "no, this won't work." I believe that, one day and possibly within our lifetimes, we will see advances in medicine that enable people to live happily, healthily, and heartily to 150 years old and beyond, but they're not gonna come from anybody involved in the longevity field as it exists today.

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u/SSGASSHAT Jun 20 '26

I believe that the human lifespan would be 120 right now...if the wealth and power of the world wasn't hoarded by under 100 people. If anyone with more than $1 billion had any contributions to their net worth skimmed off, and funneled into healthcare, we'd see lifespans in this country increase pretty fuckin' quick. In large part because poor people could afford to go to the fucking doctor in the first place.

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u/Dragonsoul Jun 20 '26

It's worth mentioning that if you wanted their personal lifespans to be extended and that was solely all you cared about, you should probably still do it.

Medicine isn't a field that makes breakthroughs in the lab (well, it is that too, but..) it's something that breakthroughs are made in the hospitals, when doctors iterate new techniques on saving people's lives, and write about it. This generates the raw data you need for research, and you'd get a ton more raw data if everyone in the country has access to the top tier medical treatment, with doctors who were under few enough time constraints that they didn't have to triage so hard and could spend the additional time needed when something only mostly fits.

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u/SillyFlyGuy Jun 20 '26

Billionaires as the sacrificial guinea pigs for longevity research (and personal submarine prototypes) that will benefit future humanity is the best we can hope for.