How Young Is Too Young To Learn About The Singularity?

Can people really live forever? A children's book author has joined the growing chorus of transhumanist voices insisting that we soon may. That's right kids, you too could be immortal.

Gennady Stolyarov, author of Death Is Wrong wants children to learn that death won't be a given in the technological age. As a boy growing up in Minsk, the prospect of death confused him and it's plagued him ever since. Why does a good, productive, happy person have to die?

Stolyarov, a property and casualty actuary, launched an Indiegogo campaign last week called "Help Teach 1000 Kids Death Is Wrong," aimed at giving out free 1,000 free copies of the book to kids. The book, which was illustrated by his wife Wendy, was first published in November 2013.

Over the last decade, researchers like Aubrey de Grey and Ray Kurzweil have helped popularize the notion that technology will extend the human lifespan--possibly forever. According to Kurzweil, we will achieve indefinite longevity by 2030. Meanwhile, recent biomedical advances--like nerve-connected bionic arms and nanobots operating inside living cells--have made the concept sound less crazy.

Stolyarov's book interweaves his own life and his mental grapple with death, the history of long-living plants and animals--like the Methuselah Tree that has lived for thousands of years and the functionally immortal turritopsis nutricula jellyfish--and the techno-philosophical developments combating senescence today.

The language is just saccharine enough for children to dig into, but the portentous themes will strike deep, philosophical chords in adults. The overall message is positive: The way technology is headed, we should be able to continue discovering and doing the things we love indefinitely. The response, especially in transhumanist circles, has been positive. Stolyarov's most ruthless criticism is a two-star Amazon review for "an alleged insufficiency of narrative."

Not everyone can think in prescient terms about the future to consider what technology can accomplish down the road to live forever. We talked to Stolyarov about his fixation on death and immortality.

Are you afraid to die?

I don't see any shame in saying that I am. For me as a person who relies on reason and understanding and anticipation of the future, this is the only condition that's truly unknowable. If you cease existing, what's that really like? The answer is to say that it's like anything is a misuse of language because there's nothing that remains. Is fear the predominant motive for why I wrote this book? And there, the answer is no.

How has growing up in Belarus culturally affected the way you think about death?

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How Young Is Too Young To Learn About The Singularity?