Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has strong beliefs about our civilization’s fate.
Musk said on Monday during an interview at The Wall Street Journal’s Executive Council Summit that allowing people to live longer — or possibly forever – with new technologies may be a bad idea.
“It’s vital for us to die because, in most situations, individuals do not alter their opinions; they simply die,” Musk remarked during the occasion.
“If you live forever, we may become a terribly obsessed society in which fresh ideas will fail.”
Musk also stated, “I am not aware of any secret anti-aging technology.”
Nobody should be surprised by his opinions. Musk is a thinker who has reaped enormous benefits from pushing innovation and change — for better or ill. In his universe, inflexible and outmoded thinking has no place.
This also explains his persistent efforts to thwart American regulators, who are increasingly scrutinizing his actions. This comes after he proposed earlier this month for an “age restriction” for US government leaders.
Musk, a 50-year-old father of six, also stated during the event that the world’s “rapid reduction in reproduction” is “one of the greatest threats to civilization.”
In other words, permitting individuals to live longer lives would result in a rapidly aging population, which would lead to further drops in infertility since fewer people would be able to have children.
This is not the first time Musk has warned that population reduction will lead to our demise. Earlier this year, he chastised fellow space firm billionaire Jeff Bezos for spending millions in a mystery Silicon Valley research startup.
Despite previous disagreements and flippant statements, Musk’s warnings are not wholly incorrect. Fertility rates are falling worldwide, and COVID-19 has only worsened this tendency.
Even China, the world’s most populated country, has seen a drop in birth rates, prompting policymakers to issue a warning.
Given that most nations’ populations are aging, mankind may be on the approach of a fall, which, according to scientists, may begin as early as 2100.
But whether or not this is a terrible thing remains to be seen. The economic ramifications of a diminishing workforce are apparent, but given the massive harm our species is causing to our planet, they may not be so awful.
