Immortality research funded by Bezos and Gates. Is the world without death happy?[Akiei Iriyama with audio]

“There are only two other goals for humanity: immortality and happiness.”

I thought I would. It is true that what mankind is after is happiness and immortality.

But with today’s science and technology, immortality is difficult. Therefore, the goal of humankind today is to live a long, healthy life, one stage before immortality. And from my point of view,The concept of combining “health” and “happiness” is “well-being”. That is probably why so many companies and startups are expanding into the well-being business domain.

By the way, Mr. Tokiwa and Mr. Noda, who is a millennial, what do you think about immortality?

I see. I understand both of your thoughts.

First of all, why do billionaires such as Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates invest in research on immortality? That’s why.

Bezos and Gates are already as successful as they could be, and have a groan of money. I don’t know what’s going on in their hearts, but it’s very possible that they’re reasonably happy with their lives and want to keep them going for as long as possible.

Even in ancient times, Qin Shi Huang of China is famous for being possessed by immortality. I think he wanted to maintain that state for as long as possible because he had reached the pinnacle of power.

Why immortality will never come true

I agree. First of all, I don’t know how much Jeff Bezos has invested in it, but I basically believe that humans will never stop dying. This is because there is a physical law in this world called the Second Law of Thermal Energy.

This is the law that all matter will eventually decay, just as an uninhabited house decays. In the first place, we know that the earth will decay in another 5 billion years. You may think, “I should just move to a planet other than Earth,” but the universe will eventually decay. In the first place, as long as humans are physical beings, no matter how much Jeff Bezos invests, it should not be possible to change the fundamental laws of physics. That’s why I think immortality will never come true.

However, even if immortality is impossible, we can still slow down the aging process. If we could extend our lifespan to around 10,000 years, we might be able to say that we were pretty close to immortality. Or, even if the brain dies, it may be possible to keep the body alive semi-permanently. Or if it’s not a human being, but as another creature, it may be possible to live for tens of thousands of years.

But generally speaking, “immortality” means “preserving one’s current self and not dying.” Otherwise, no matter how long you live, you shouldn’t be happy. For example, what if someone said, “You can live 1000 years from now, but in 10 years you’ll lose all memory of your life and start over from scratch.” Do you still want to live 1000 years?

It doesn’t matter which one, but the family memories that Tokiwa-san had up until now, his work, and everything else has disappeared and he’s starting from a blank slate.

Mr. Noda did the best verbalization for me. It’s the continuity of memories that forms a person’s personality, so if I can inherit my current memories, I’d like to live, but if that’s not the case, I’m as good as dead now.

If you think about it in this way, it’s not that simple even if you say immortality.

For example, consider a thought experiment. Assuming that instinctive desires such as hunger and sleep are satisfied, if humans could live indefinitely, would it be fun to live? If that happens, people will probably commit suicide.

Because it’s “boring”. Boredom is the biggest pain for humans.

If I only had 50 more years to live, I would think, “Let’s make the most of the limited time.” Most things can be accomplished without a time limit. If that happens, the competition will be lost and I will probably stop living.

However, I have a strong desire to see how this world, which is changing at an accelerating pace, will change in the future. If possible, I would like to go on a space trip while I am still alive. The longer I live, the more likely there will be technology that will enable me to live longer, so I would like to live for another few decades if possible.

Akie Iriyama: Professor, Waseda University Graduate School of Business Administration (Business School). He graduated from Keio University Faculty of Economics and completed the master’s program at Keio University Graduate School of Economics. After working at Mitsubishi Research Institute, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Business in 2008. In the same year, he became an Assistant Professor at the Business School of the State University of New York at Buffalo. Since 2013, he has been an associate professor at Waseda University Graduate School of Business Administration (Business School). Incumbent since 2019. His books include “What are the world’s management scholars thinking now?”