Silicon Valley’s Death-Phobia Gets a Brutal Reality Check

Bryan Johnson, the tech millionaire spending heavily in a quixotic effort to avoid death, has received yet another stark reminder of his terminal mortality.

Last week, Johnson announced he has been diagnosed with autoimmune gastritis, an incurable disease that causes the immune system to attack healthy stomach cells. “My stomach is eating itself,” he wrote.

Normally, such a diagnosis would be no laughing matter. But we can make an exception for Johnson, one of the more ridiculous characters to emerge during Silicon Valley’s pivot to AI psychosis. Johnson, who claims he will not die, has started a cult movement called Don’t Die, which is based on convincing gullible people that death is optional (and getting them to buy the health supplements Johnson sells).

Johnson has even announced the creation of his own Network State—with plans for a private country called Don’t Die. When asked to state his goals during a 2024 interview, Johnson said:

One is start a company. Two is start a country. Three is start a religion. Four: Don't Die. Five: Become God.

Unfortunately for Johnson, it appears God—or Nature—will have the last laugh. His diagnosis isn’t terminal, but it’s a reminder that he is mortal, and will remain so no matter how much Snake Oil he swallows or teenagers he drains. He will not be God, or even see God.----