Bryan Johnson: posthumous fame lives in other people’s memories, while the future belongs to those who remain alive

Bryan Johnson: posthumous fame lives in other people’s memories, while the future belongs to those who remain alive

On July 19, Bryan Johnson quoted a post by James Lucas about Achilles’ choice. Johnson described the “immortality of one’s name” as a way to justify an early death: the person who dies loses all future experience and the chance to witness new forms of intelligence.

The choice Lucas described appears across two Homeric poems. In the Iliad, Achilles sees two possible fates. If he goes to Troy, he will gain lasting glory but never return home. If he returns home, he will live a long life but lose that glory.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus reminds the dead Achilles that the Achaeans honored him as a god during his lifetime and that he now rules over the dead. Achilles replies:

“Do not console me about death, Odysseus. I would rather live on earth and serve a poor man than rule over all the dead.”

Immediately afterward, Achilles asks Odysseus about his son Neoptolemus and his father Peleus. He wishes that he could return to his father for even an hour, restored to his former strength, and defend him from those who are stripping the old man of his honors. Achilles would rather live on earth and remain close to the people he loves.

On July 19, Johnson quoted Lucas and wrote:

“There is no greater reward than being alive. People justified an early death through the ‘immortality of one’s name’ because they saw no other option.”

Johnson identifies the cost of a short but remarkable life: the person loses the future in which they might have witnessed new forms of intelligence. The memory of someone who has died can support loved ones, preserve knowledge, and change how other people act. These effects remain with the living. A person’s name survives in other people’s memories; the future remains with the person who continues to live.