Aubrey de Grey on the Imminence of Immortality

At a certain point in time—perhaps sooner than most people think—the ever-increasing average human lifespan will begin accelerating faster than people age. This moment, according to anti-aging expert Aubrey de Grey, will be more important than the Singularity—when the human race achieves this “longevity escape velocity,” we will essentially become immortal. And de Grey, who is in his mid-40s, argues that this moment has a 50/50 chance of occurring in time for him to live forever. Crazy talk? Maybe not—de Grey shared with Big Think some surprising aging research and explained why there are no more major breakthroughs necessary for us to defeat aging for good. He even provided a vision of how we might defeat cancer. De Grey’s optimistic vision brings up some interesting questions; most importantly, wouldn’t an ageless society present a logistical nightmare?

Aubrey de Grey is confident that arguments about economic difficulties and overpopulation in an ageless society are unwarranted; he does, however, believe that society would change dramatically, but mostly for the better.  In fact, he considers immortality an ideal motivator of world peace and cooperation in the fight against climate change.