Futile efforts to master death

“Don’t Die.” This bold hope fuels Bryan Johnson’s crusade to extend his life indefinitely; it is also the title of a recent Netflix documentary detailing his journey. He claims that the 21st century will be the first generation to defeat death as we know it. While Johnson spends millions each year to avoid death, a countermovement of right-to-die activists are pushing for universal access to assisted suicide. Indeed, as we enter 2025, our culture is obsessed with mastering death—either by extending life indefinitely or ending it on demand.

After selling Braintree—a payment company that later acquired Venmo—for $800 million, Johnson launched Blueprint, an anti-aging project focused on reversing biological age. His health regimen involves experimental treatments such as blood transfusions with his son and advanced gene therapy, a strict diet, relentless monitoring, and consistent sleep. In all, these efforts cost $2 million annually but are, in his words, a small price to pay to live forever.

Johnson’s efforts correspond with a broader belief that technological advancements can outpace mortality. As he explains,

“Don’t die” is the most fundamental of all human desires. What I’m suggesting is right now may be the first time that legitimate Don’t Die is here. Whereas before we’ve had to make up stories [through religion], now it’s technically, potentially possible.

His philosophy is simple: If we can master our biology through technology, we can delay or even escape death. Of course, is not inherently wrong to want to live longer—indeed, the Old Testament is filled with stories of men and women who lived many centuries. Johnson’s desire, however, is to cheat death and create a self-perpetuating existence apart from God.

Instead of calling it eternal life—a concept he argues is too complex for humans to understand—he focuses on living one day at a time. If persons are healthy and surrounded by a loving community, then Johnson posits they will want to keep living indefinitely.

Increasingly, however, a person’s health is a big “if.” In reality, the big growth movement along these lines is assisted suicide, billed as “aid in dying.” In many cases, chronic pain, delayed surgeries, medical debt, or the burden of living with a lifelong disability seems too great. While a person’s own health may be outside of his or her control—as it ultimately is with each of us—assisted suicide offers suffering patients the illusion of control and autonomy.

In the last year alone, this desire gave rise to technological developments like the Sarco pod, a sleek, futuristic-looking suicide device that promises a peaceful death. Created by Philip Nitschke, or “Dr. Death,” the pod allows individuals to end their lives without medical oversight or a “lengthy screening process.” In September, a 64-year-old American woman with an auto-immune disease traveled to Switzerland to end her life with this device, marking the first “successful” death of its kind.

After her death, Nitschke said in a statement that he was “pleased that the Sarco had performed exactly as it had been designed ... to provide an elective, non-drug, peaceful death at the time of the person's choosing.” It is important to note, however, that he merely hopes that the suicide pod provided a peaceful death. As NDTV World reports, “an autopsy reportedly found strangulation marks on her neck, sparking speculations about her death. This has led to questions about a possible equipment malfunction or interference.”

Despite controversy over the Sarco pod, U.S. lawmakers are pushing to expand assisted suicide. Ten states and Washington, D.C., already have legislation in place, and nine additional states are considering bills modeled on Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act. This law allows terminally ill patients, with six months or less to live, to self-administer a prescribed lethal dose of medication.

If Canada is any indication, it won’t stop there. In Canada, for example, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) has broadened from serving only the terminally ill to including persons with chronic conditions, disabilities, and mental illness. In just six years, euthanasia deaths in Canada skyrocketed from 1,018 in 2016 to more than 13,200 in 2022, making it one of the leading causes of death in the country. 

Ultimately, neither scientific advancements nor assisted suicide can overcome the sting of death. Rather than grasping for control, we are called to trust in the One who conquered death. Our task is not to seek immortality through human means nor to escape suffering through premature death, but to live in faith, steward our health wisely, and prepare for a good death—one that rests in the hope of the bodily resurrection.