From supplements to science labs — are we adding years to life? Is this even relevant for us middle class folks? Or is this a missed opportunity to add life to whatever years we have?

Billionaires are spending fortunes trying to live forever. Blood filters, stem-cell therapies, AI scans — but what’s the point of 150 or even 200 years if impact doesn’t come from living longer, but from how we live while we’re here?

The World’s Most Expensive Hamster Wheel

The New Yorker recently ran a long feature on multi-billionaires chasing immortality. Clinics, biohackers, AI scans, blood filters; all wrapped up in what they call ‘longevity science.’ To me, it looks more like the world’s most expensive hamster wheel.

Because here’s the truth: from time immemorial, we’ve wanted more time. From emperors drinking mercury potions to Silicon Valley executives swallowing 74 supplements a day, the dream hasn’t changed, how do I cheat death?

Impact Doesn’t Need 150 or 200 Years

But maybe we’re asking the wrong question.

Alexander the Great died at 33. Jesus Christ at 33, maybe 34.

“Even our own Ram, Buddha and Guru Nanak, whether you see them as divine or fictional, had limited runs on Earth. And yet their impact outlived empires.”

So what’s the point of 150 or 200 years if people forget you by Tuesday?

Stressed? Congratulations, You Paid for That

Billionaires think otherwise. They pay $80,000 a year to have their blood filtered, their bowels scanned, and their stress levels measured. And what do they get? A report telling them they’re stressed! They buy more time to make more money to buy more time. Congratulations, you’re a hamster on a platinum wheel.

Dead Inside, Long Before You Die

What rarely gets mentioned is Joy. Happiness. Contentment. The words that can’t be patented, bottled, or sold at a markup.

“You can wear an Oura ring on every single finger, track your heart rate every second, and still be dead inside. ”

That’s the real tragedy, not dying, but being dead while you’re alive.

Our Comfort Blankets and Our Ego Trip

For centuries we’ve told ourselves stories to soften death. Heaven, hell, spirits living forever. These ideas aren’t proof, they’re comfort blankets, ways to avoid the truth we can’t stand: we too shall pass. The obsession with immortality isn’t spirituality. It’s ego. That whisper: you are special, the chosen one, you deserve forever.

The Transfusion vs. the Shovel

And if the rich really do stretch their lives to 150 or even 200? It won’t be paradise. The poor won’t just die younger, they may not stick around at all. Immortality for the rich, extermination for the rest. Just look around yourself. You get a transfusion; they get a shovel.

YOLO or YOLF?

Meanwhile the ‘solution’ is chemicals. Seventy-four pills a day, powders and potions your liver can’t even pronounce, rather digest. Mix three or more drugs and no one really knows what happens. Could be synergy, could be disaster. It’s like mixing cocktails blindfolded. But hey, YOLO (You Only Live Once), or should I say YOLF (You Only Live Forever).

The Boring Stuff That Actually Works

The irony is that science already knows the real answer. Seventy to ninety percent of your health and longevity comes from lifestyle. Not nanobots. Not cryogenic freezers. Lifestyle. The boring, free stuff: sleep, movement, real food, stress management, relationships. The things billionaires don’t want because they can’t be packaged as shiny moonshots.

The New Yorker called death a tragedy. But is it? Being dead is natural. The tragedy is when you’re alive but not really living, too busy chasing immortality to notice the joy in front of you. Even the so-called chosen ones didn’t live forever. Their purpose wasn’t to hack death. It was to show people how to live.

We Master Crying, We Forget Smiling

And here’s a little life lesson we all miss. When a baby is born, if it doesn’t cry, the doctors make it cry, because supposedly that’s good for health. Then we spend the rest of our lives mastering the art of crying. And when we die, everyone around us pretends to cry. In this whole act, we forget to smile.

We need to smile more. To talk about joy more. And while we’re at it, we need to breathe well too. Long, slow, deep breaths. Because they’re the one thing truly keeping us alive.

The Truth About Living Well

Living forever won’t make us wise. It won’t make us kind. It won’t guarantee joy. It will only make us more of what we already are. Good. Bad. Or Ugly. So if you’re greedy, angry, or miserable at 70, why would anyone want 70 more years of you?

Whether you like it or not, as Pink Floyd would say, you are just ‘another brick in the wall.’

Sorry to break it to you, if you still think that you are ‘the chosen’, you are just another brick in the wall, and there is one on top of your head too.

Forget Eternal Life. Try Enjoying Today.

Maybe the goal isn’t to live forever. Maybe it’s to live well.

“Because immortality isn’t about dodging death. It’s about not being dead while you’re alive.”

So breathe. Move. Sleep. Love. Make lots of it.

Smile. Cry less. And when you do, cry your heart out, so you can smile again.

And yes, eat a vegetable. A fruit too. Not because it’ll make you live forever, but because it’ll make you alive today.

And here’s where I’d love to hear from you.

Do you think living longer automatically means living better?
Or is joy, strength, and connection more valuable than chasing eternity?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. Share this with a friend who has strong views on aging, health, or even spirituality. Because maybe the real secret to longevity is not in living forever, but in talking openly about what makes life meaningful.

Chasing Longevity: Joke or Need of the Hour?