The year we obsessed over living longer

Once just a philosophical query, humanity’s pursuit of immortality has taken a more modern shape in recent years, with anti-ageing technology, supplements, and fitness regimes.

Picture this: two authoritarian strongmen walk down the red carpet, and one of them says, “Now, human organs can be continuously transplanted. The longer you live, the younger you become… even achieve immortality.” That was Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at a military parade in September.

The duo mused over advances in biotechnology. Xi said, “Some predict that in this century humans may live to 150 years old” and even suggested that today, a 70-year-old could be considered a “child”. For men over 70 themselves, who have ruled their country for over a decade, and wish to hold on to that power for longer, was this a scientific discourse or just wishful thinking? It’s worth mentioning that on their side was a younger dictator, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, smiling along. Perhaps by the time he turns 70, humans will have indeed figured out the science of longevity.

Longevity was the hottest health trend in 2025, treading the fine lines between defying death and living longer and living healthier.

The year began with Netflix dropping a documentary on “biohacking” guru, Bryan Johnson, titled ‘Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever’. Since 2021, Johnson, an American venture capitalist, has been chasing ‘Project Blueprint’, his experiment into anti-ageing. On his Instagram account with 2.1 million followers, Johnson proudly declares, “We may be the first generation who won’t die.” The 48-year-old, in his latest post, claims that his body “largely operates at elite 18 year old levels”. Johnson’s experiments with his body—strict diets, supplements and therapies—have, over the years, drawn as much scepticism as intrigue.

Some may remember him from a viral moment in February, when Johnson walked out of the Nikhil Kamath podcast, citing poor air quality in a room in Mumbai’s Bandra. The podcast featured the Kamath brothers (Nikhil and Nithin) discussing longevity. Putting their money where their mouth is, the duo has invested in a Bengaluru-based wellness and longevity start-up, Biopeak. They also partnered with the Indian Institute of Science for its ‘Longevity India’ initiative for research into “healthy ageing” and technological development.

They aren’t the only tech billionaires to invest in longevity. The likes of Oracle founder Larry Ellison and PayPal’s Peter Thiel have coughed up millions in anti-ageing research. More recently, Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal dipped his toes into the quest for the fountain of youth. In October, he pledged $25 million from his personal capital towards ‘Continue Research’, an initiative focused on extending healthy human lifespan. On their ‘Our Purpose’ page, Continue Research asks: What if we lived for 180 years, instead of 80?

A month later, Goyal shared one of the findings from Continue Research: the “gravity ageing hypothesis”. It suggests that as the brain sits above the heart, it gets reduced blood flow (due to gravity), and over the years, this impacts brain activity. The theory sparked fierce online debate, highlighting both the promise and the pseudoscience that often blur in longevity discourse.

This obsession with longevity, however, isn’t limited to finance and tech bros. McKinsey Group’s research shows that Gen Z and millennials are redefining the wellness industry. Up to 60 per cent of surveyed consumers across countries said that longevity or “healthy aging” is a “top” or “very important” priority. The report mentions a range of longevity products that have emerged to meet this demand, such as skin care that prevents wrinkles, supplements for slow cellular ageing, and epigenetic age-testing kits, among others. It also noted that younger consumers were taking a “proactive” approach to wellness and investing in longevity products just as much as the older customers.

Besides newer products and technology, social media discourse on longevity moved beyond cold plunges and celery juice to everyday practices such as tai chi walking or rucking (walking with a heavy rucksack or weighted vests). The protein conversation gave way to fibermaxxing, and collagen enthusiasts also began talking about creatine for more intense workouts. Run clubs, padel, and walking/cycling groups were all the rage among youngsters as an answer to growing loneliness and bedrotting.

For most, longevity isn’t a quest against dying or a way to live till 180, but a way to age healthily.

The longevity debate throws up some thornier issues. When dictators muse about living longer, what does it mean for society? There are practical concerns, too. Consider the environmental cost of sustaining ever-growing populations, the social cost of generational wealth that never changes hands, and the economic reality that longevity treatments will likely remain available only to those who can pay.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has famously taken a stance against longevity, believing that extending human lifespans could concentrate power and ossify civilisation, remaining stuck instead of evolving.

Nevertheless, humanity’s preoccupation with living longer cannot be written off. Years of scientific research, philosophical inquiry, and much of human imagination have been spent on the idea. The biggest franchises of our times, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, have characters obsessed with finding an elixir to everlasting life. In Avatar, the human race is killing the whale-equivalents of Pandora to get its hands on Amrita—a yellowish liquid that promises to stop humans from ageing altogether.

This year, however, a cinematic adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein forced us to rethink our own obsession with immortality. Frankenstein’s monster, doomed to live forever, seeks his creator for one wish: permission to die. Immortality, the story suggests, is not a gift, but a curse that strips life of meaning.

Perhaps then, the question we should be asking is not “how” we can live longer, but if we should at all? In a year marked by wars, trade disruptions, and the internet’s descent into chaos (thanks to a potent mix of AI slop, ragebait, and brainrot), one has to wonder: what’s worth living longer for?

So, if you could live forever, would you?