The moral of (im)mortality

Immortality has been a dream of humanity since the dawn of time. But what once was at best pure myth, and at worst deadly scientific experiments, may now yield some actual results. From computer brain to zen-master, let us list your (im)mortal options.

Forever and ever
We have been searching for the Fountain of Youth for millennia, with minimal results. From searching for actual water, we have embarked upon a different expedition to localize this tool for eternal life. In real 2020 fashion, Elon Musk’s company Neuralink introduced the first working brain-implant that will eventually lead to us integrating AI, allowing us to live virtually forever. Not a fan of uploading yourself to the digital eternity? Or perhaps you don’t have the time to hang around until this technology is entirely up to snuff? There are other options.

Redesign time
This is a bit philosophical but stick with us. Instead of extending life by adding years to our lifetime, we could also measure the time we have differently. We have all experienced the longest five minutes of our life, and the shortest year as well. Time is not objectively measured. Meaning, we could densify the time that we have. And we can do that by experiencing, feeling and creating more. By living deeply.

Slow down time
Another way to look at extending life is by measuring heartbeats. It has been theorised by Knut Schmidt-Nielsen at the Duke University in his book Scaling, that a mouse and an elephant breathe the same amount of time.  The same is said for their heartbeats. A mouse breathes more rapidly and its heart beats faster. Therefore, it lives shorter. So we say to you: slow down, take it easy. Take some deep, slow breaths. Maybe meditate. And embrace your inner zen-master.

Best of all worlds
If you like to play it safe, you could do all of the above. Live your best life; do what you love and densify your time while taking it slow. This is the Ikigai way. Following that Asian philosophy, you may live as long as the villagers of Ogimi, the longest living, happiest people on our earth.