The Immortals: 9. Nerd Rapture

Intrigue

The immortalist movement in Silicon Valley shares a lot with evangelical religions, says Dr Emile P Torres, a philosopher and former Nick Bostrom acolyte. In both, he explains, there’s a heaven in which the faithful will experience unsurpassed bliss and delight, and an apocalypse, which will separate out the people who can go there.

After a decade at the epicentre of the transhumanist research community, Emile became concerned with the number of apocalyptic stories of techno-utopia that were being shared online. Was this philosophical movement becoming radicalised? When Emile raises the question, the consequences are swift and severe. Excommunicated, harassed and threatened.

With influential and powerful technology billionaires as some of its faithful, is Emile right? Is this movement really one of the most dangerous secular ideologies?

In this series, technology reporter and psychologist Aleks Krotoski explores the frontiers of the extreme longevity pioneers. They've made their money in Silicon Valley. And with their technology solutions - PayPal, Facebook, cryptocurrencies - they've ushered in the world that we live in today, with all its unintended consequences. Some of them now want to solve the "problem" of aging, or even death, and they are making bigger strides than we may think.

Can they? Should they?

A Pillowfort production for BBC Radio 4

New episodes released Mondays. If you're in the UK, listen to the full series of Intrigue: The Immortals first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3WEQS5W