Anthony on Nostr: I only just came across this guy's story the other day and haven't had a chance to ...

I only just came across this guy's story the other day and haven't had a chance to put much thought into it yet. But I think there is so much to unpack along the lines you drew. Why is this guy living this way when he could be eating/drinking/smoking/injecting/...ing anything he wants in whatever quantity he wants whenever he wants? Or if he's not the gourmand type, why isn't he building a temple to himself full of the latest whatsits to prolong life? Since it seems there's a connection between longevity and gardening, why doesn't he buy a gigantic estate and garden on it for crying out loud? I don't know this guy's life and maybe he does that, but I suspect not; that's not the image he's projecting, anyway.

His behavior speaks to a deep emptiness he's struggling to fill. Even building a monument to himself won't fill it, it seems; otherwise that's what he'd be doing and publicizing.

This subject came up when my wife--who is a classicist with a lot to say about this topic--and I were talking yesterday, and my humble offering to the conversation was this: "I wonder whether people who are obsessed with trying to live forever are compensating for not being integrated into or aware of the ordinary cycle of life." The money, and the tech, is isolating; rather than throwing off the isolating effects some people double down and try to apply more money, and more tech. This guy sounds like he's stuck in that loop.