{UAH} How the 'cognitive elite' plan to outsmart nature and cheat death

How the 'cognitive elite' plan to outsmart nature and cheat death

Vastly wealthy, clever people are experimenting with linking our brains to machines in the hopes of dodging mortality, writes David Aaronovitch

30 May 2021 - 00:01BY DAVID AARONOVITCH

Transcending the human condition is a common fantasy. What else are all those superhero movies about? A man can fly, a girl can see through lead, a boy can climb the outside of skyscrapers. But those films are also subtle reminders that none of us can do those things. There's the office the next morning, the kids to take to school, the dog to walk, the hospital appointment to keep. Any dreams of superpowers are just that: dreams. Unless you are incredibly wealthy.

Because then you not only have the mindset that suggests you are capable of unusual feats, you also have the resources to indulge attempting them. And, more important, perhaps, the actuarial calculus that restrains most humans from spending big on long shots doesn't apply to you. Like an early Renaissance nobleman who's lived a life of sin, you might think that eternal salvation is problematic but building an ornate chapel inside a cathedral and endowing a convent might just tip the scales...

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