Biohacker Bryan Johnson envisions a post-biological future, says 'We all will be immortal, to some degree'

Economic Times

21 hours ago

Agencies Bryan Johnson believes that the fusion of biology and computation could redefine human existence, potentially allowing consciousness to exist beyond bodily death.
In a striking interview with WIRED, American tech entrepreneur and biohacker Bryan Johnson made a provocative claim: he doesn't believe he will die—not in the way we traditionally understand death. 'False,' he said, when asked if he, Bryan Johnson, would die someday. Not out of arrogance, he insists, but out of a calculated belief in the fusion of biology and computation that could redefine human existence.
The 46-year-old multimillionaire, best known for founding Braintree (which acquired Venmo before both were sold to PayPal), is now making headlines for a very different kind of venture—his obsessive, expensive, and highly public pursuit of biological immortality. 'We all will be immortal to some degree,' Johnson claims, 'as we move into a blend of biological and computational existence.'
'We're not stuck in biological software,' Johnson explained. 'We also have the ability to begin moving ourselves to computational systems. So currently, in a very crude form, I have a Bryan AI that has digested everything I've ever said.' According to Johnson, this AI twin is a digital backup of his identity—part of a larger bet that the fusion of human consciousness with machines could offer a form of indefinite continuity, if not immortality. The core of Johnson's philosophy hinges on a paradigm shift. As artificial intelligence progresses and the boundary between biology and computation blurs, he predicts that society's highest aspiration won't be wealth, family, or even legacy—but simply existing.
'The most prized asset is going to be existence,' Johnson said. 'Immortality, for example, will be devalued relative to existing. And that's my fundamental bet on the future.'
Johnson's 'Project Blueprint,' launched in 2021, is his personal roadmap for radical life extension. The regimen includes everything from strict caloric intake and early bedtimes to intense biometric monitoring and even experimental plasma transfusions—one of which controversially involved his teenage son. The idea? To reverse his biological age, or at least slow its progression.
While experts have largely dismissed plasma transfusions for anti-aging as unproven and potentially unsafe (the U.S. FDA warns against such procedures), Johnson remains undeterred. For him, the real breakthrough isn't in the blood—it's in the brain.
As founder of Kernel, Johnson has poured resources into developing high-tech helmets capable of recording brain activity with unprecedented precision. He imagines a near future where minds can be interfaced, analyzed, and eventually liberated from their biological cages. In his worldview, biology is just version one of the human experience. Version two? A computational self—one that may exist beyond bodily death, backed up in digital consciousness.Not everyone shares Johnson's optimism. Longevity scientist Andrew Steele argues that genetics still dominate life expectancy, rendering most lifestyle-based interventions marginal in effect. McGill University's Moshe Szyf calls Johnson's goals 'not grounded in current science.'