--- title: "The Quest for Immortality Could Create Two “Classes of Humans”" description: "We've yet to invent anti-aging treatments more effective than exercise and a healthy diet, but the super-rich continue to dream of immortality." date: "2018-10-13" modified: "2018-10-13" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/quest-immortality-classes-humans" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Prosthetics and Devices" tags: - "anti-aging" - "immortality" - "peter thiel" - "sean parker" - "the digest" --- # The Quest for Immortality Could Create Two “Classes of Humans” ![Medical science has yet to invent anti-aging tech more effective than exercise and a healthy diet. But that's never stopped the super-rich from dreaming.]() *\Image: Emily Cho\* ## Immortal Overlords Last year, former Facebook president Sean Parker [raised some eyebrows]() at a cancer innovation event when he suggested that the super-rich could defeat death within his lifetime. "Because I'm a billionaire, I'm going to have access to better health care," he said. "I'm going to be like 160 and I'm going to be part of this, like, class of immortal overlords." ## Life Eternal The reality, according to a compelling [new feature]() by Futurism social editor Jake Banas, is that cutting-edge medical science has yet to dream up a treatment that's more effective than exercise and a healthy diet. Life expectancy will likely continue to creep up, but there's no guarantee we'll ever discover a trick to unlock true immortality. That hasn't stopped dreamers, including Parker and other Silicon Valley luminaries, from pouring money into research intended to radically extend the human lifespan. Still, even many experts who study aging and mortality [aren't convinced]() that it's possible to cheat death forever. ## Treat the Rich As Parker hinted last year, though, such treatments would be unlikely to reach the general population — if everyone had access, after all, it'd quickly create an overpopulation crisis as new babies were born while the old refused to die. Ultimately, we've seen this 21st century quest to cheat death pop up before, and from Gilgamesh to Dorian Grey, it's seldom turned out well. **READ MORE:** [Disrupting the Reaper: Tech Titans’ Quest for Immortality Rages Forward]() \[Futurism\] ***More on eternal life: [New Tech Is Giving Humanity Many Potential Paths to Immortality]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()