As a sequence of events, human existence is quite simple.

You're born, you live, and then sadly, you die.

Some people, however, think that could be subject to change, that it's technologically contingent,

which means in the future, technologies may arrive, which allows to, in theory, become immortal.

But what would that really mean? How would we get there? What technologies are necessary to

significantly extend human lifespan.

Today's guest is a neuroscientist. He's the author of this fantastic book. The Future

Loves You, which talks about the possibility, the science, the practicality of whole brain

emulation.

Ariel Zellegnekov-Johnston.

Welcome to Downstream.

Thanks for having me.

I am really looking forward to this conversation.

I hope don't mind me saying this.

The book you've written is on a rather outlandish subject.

I know you don't think that.

The Future Loves You, which is really about humans outlandish subject. I know you don't think that. The Future Loves You,

which is really about humans superseding mortality itself. How and why we should abolish death.

I really, really enjoyed it. Before we get the really complex stuff about brain uploads

and connectomes, a really simple question. Why as a species does Homo sapiens appear to have

this hard limit of around 100 years when it comes to lifespan? It's essentially because we are

optimized for about 70 years of lifespan as being the best trade-off between how quickly we can get to reproductive

...