Gennady Stolyarov II
Born1987 (age 36–37)
Byelorussian SSR
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materHillsdale College
Occupations
  • Writer
  • activist
  • actuary
Notable workDeath is Wrong
Political partyTranshumanist
WebsiteThe Rational Argumentator

Gennady Stolyarov II (born c. 1987) is a Belarusian-American libertarian and transhumanist writer, actuary,[1][2][3][4] and civil servant[5] known for his book Death is Wrong.[6][7] Stolyarov also leads two transhumanist political parties.[8]

In his children's book, Death is Wrong, he argues that death is an enemy[7] and encourages readers to help overcome it using technology.[6] In an article on transhumanism's attempts to overcome mortality, James Moore of the Huffington Post provided a discussion of Stolyarov's motivation in writing Death is Wrong: "Why not believe this is possible, Stolyarov asks, because the first part of accomplishing immortality is to believe it is possible and dying is not required. Teach that to the young and the world will change. Death, he insists, is wrong."[9] Rebecca Hiscott of Mashable wrote an extensive profile of Death is Wrong and noted that the book’s “final message is a call to action: Dying is wrong, children, but through scientific progress you can make it right.”[10] She also highlighted “Stolyarov's fear: If children are not taught that death can be overcome, they will never strive to overcome it.”[10] Leanne Butkovic of Fast Company wrote of Death is Wrong that "The language is just saccharine enough for children to dig into, but the portentous themes will strike deep, philosophical chords in adults. The overall message is positive: The way technology is headed, we should be able to continue discovering and doing the things we love indefinitely."[11] Joelle Renstrom, writing for Future Tense, criticized the book by calling it "creepy" and saying, "Kids could grow up not just afraid of death, but also afraid of failing to fix it."[6] However, in October 2014, Renstrom also acknowledged that "Transhumanism has gained traction as scientists and thinkers such as Ray Kurzweil, Aubrey de Grey, and Gennady Stolyarov have become increasingly well known."[12] Meghan Neal of Motherboard also called the book "creepy" but noted, "Wacky as this still all sounds, he may have a point."[7] Mark Shrayber of Jezebel authored a profile on Death is Wrong, which, while it echoed some of Renstrom's criticisms, also offered various points of agreement. Shrayber wrote, "I agree that death is a frightening concept, one that keeps me up many nights. [...] I want to agree with Stolyarov that the singularity is coming and that in less than thirty years we will have harnessed life-extension to a point where we can all at least live to be 100. But I don't know if this is a concept we should be selling to children, especially without looking at the complexity of what such advances could mean."[13]

Frank Swain of BBC Future interviewed Stolyarov in April 2014 and described Death is Wrong as “a controversial children’s book that encourages young minds to reject the fatalist notion that death is inevitable.”[14] He described Stolyarov’s view that death “is simply a technological challenge waiting for the appropriate level of money and manpower to solve it.”[14] Stolyarov is cited as stating that “It would be wonderful to get to a world where all death is optional. Right now, essentially all of us are sentenced to the death penalty, even though most of us have done nothing to deserve it.”[14]

In his last regular column for BBC Future on September 23, 2014, Frank Swain revisited his interview with Stolyarov and featured Stolyarov's views on the future of human augmentation: "Instead of relentlessly optimising ourselves to a model of perfection, he predicts an explosion of diversity. 'Different people would choose to augment themselves in different ways, stretching their abilities in different directions. We will not see a monolithic hierarchy of some augmented humans at the top, while the non-augmented humans get relegated to the bottom,' he reasons. 'Rather, widespread acceptance of emerging technologies would create a future where a thousand augmented flowers will bloom.'"[15] Swain wrote, "I prefer Stolyarov’s vision of the future, and it’s one I subscribe to."[15]

In their 2017 book Juvenescence: Investing in the Age of Longevity, entrepreneurs and investors Jim Mellon and Al Chalabi wrote, “Longevists such as Gennady Stolyarov have also been prominent in recent years. Stolyarov wrote that death is ‘the enemy of us all, to be fought with medicine, science, and technology’ – and adding our own postscript, only now are the armaments for that fight available to scientists.”[16]

Stolyarov is also involved in transhumanist politics. He is the chairman of the United States Transhumanist Party, which advocates life extension claiming 880 members in 2018 and over 1,600 members by October 2019.[8][4] Alex Pearlman published an extensive profile of the U.S. Transhumanist Party's 2019 Presidential Primary on Medium's GEN on October 16, 2019. While Pearlman described some of the chaos of this primary process, she also noted that "Since taking over, Stolyarov has organized the fringe ideology [of transhumanism] into an efficient political machine, registering it as an official political party in Nevada, and growing party membership to over 1,600 registered members."[4] James Bickerton of the UK Express interviewed Stolyarov for a July 6, 2020, profile on the 2020 U.S. Transhumanist Party Presidential candidacy of Charlie Kam. Stolyarov is cited as stating that the electoral campaign's "focus was on raising awareness of the movement claiming: 'What I’ve found out with regard to transhumanism is that the barrier really isn’t hostility on the part of the general public, the greatest barrier is unawareness. So how does one spread awareness? One seeks to reach new demographics and one seeks to reach them using creative means.'"[17] In April 2021, Riley Snyder and Tabitha Mueller of The Nevada Independent covered Stolyarov's opposition, on behalf of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, to Nevada's Senate Bill 292, a Democratic-Party-sponsored bill which increased the barriers to ballot access for minor political parties.[2]

Molly Fosco of OZY Media interviewed Stolyarov for the March 25, 2019, Episode 4 of the Future of Health podcast, where Stolyarov’s thoughts were cited regarding the future of radical life extension, the technologies involved in it, the philosophy of transhumanism, and how humans who apply various commonplace technologies can already be considered transhuman.[18] In the podcast Stolyarov is quoted as stating that “Radical life extension will be a combination of nanotechnology, robotics, AI and repairing the body at the cellular level” and “Nothing is beyond the reach of human reason in terms of improving our state of life, including the radical extension of human life.”[18] Stolyarov further expressed his thoughts about types of future enhancements: "I think the future is one of integration between biological and mechanical or electronic augmentations. The key is to preserve a certain continuity of bodily processes. Whatever part you get, it needs to integrate seamlessly into your existing organism."[18]

WIRED Magazine featured Stolyarov's views on transhumanism in a profile by Laura Mackenzie on April 29, 2020, entitled "Eternal Frame".[19] Mackenzie cites Stolyarov as explaining that "most of us are already using technology to overcome human limitations in some way" and that through the progress of technology "we can overcome 'more fundamental limitations' such as material scarcity, disease, and even death."[19] Stolyarov is further quoted as saying that, as a result of emerging medical technologies, “there would be no upper limit to the human lifespan; no expiration date, so to speak… My hope is [that this will be achievable] in 20 to 30 years from now.”[19]

References

  1. ↑ "In Pursuit of SOA General Insurance FSA". Society of Actuaries. September 2, 2015. Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Snyder, Riley; Mueller, Tabitha (April 2, 2021). "Permanent expanded mail-in voting, straight ticket ballots draw partisan fire in Legislature". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved November 4, 2021. 'A 2 percent threshold would be essentially unattainable,' said Gennady Stolyarov II, chairman of the United States Transhumanist Party and a Lead Actuary for property and casualty insurance with the state's Division of Insurance. 'Even more onerous [are] the requirements in section two, the petition signatures must be apportioned equally among the petition districts, which is essentially impossible to fulfill.'
  3. ↑ Varner, Maddy (February 25, 2020). "Suckers List: How Allstate's Secret Auto Insurance Algorithm Squeezes Big Spenders – The Markup". The Markup. Retrieved November 4, 2021. Gennady Stolyarov II, a lead actuary at the Nevada Division of Insurance, said all this secrecy and complexity leaves drivers in the dark about how to keep their rates low.
  4. 1 2 3 Pearlman, Alex (October 17, 2019). "Would You Vote for a President Who Promised Eternal Life?". GEN. Retrieved November 3, 2021. [...] Gennady Stolyarov II, a 32-year-old Belorussian actuary and the chairman of the U.S. Transhumanist Party [...]" "Since taking over, Stolyarov has organized the fringe ideology into an efficient political machine, registering it as an official political party in Nevada, and growing party membership to over 1,600 registered members.
  5. ↑ Scism, Leslie (December 3, 2011). "A Home-Insurance Trap?". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 4, 2021. [...] Nevada, which began posting policy forms in October for its 10 largest home and auto insurers. Gennady Stolyarov, a Nevada insurance regulator, said in an email that officials 'hope that this is just the beginning' of an effort to improve consumers' ability to comparison-shop for insurance.
  6. 1 2 3 Renstrom, Joelle (March 2014). "The Most Terrifying Kids' Book". Slate. Retrieved August 25, 2014. Death is Wrong, Says Creepy Kids' Book [webpage title] ... The book encourages kids to help eradicate death with technology. ... In late February, Stolyarov and the Movement for Indefinite Life Extension started an Indiegogo campaign to raise $5,000 to distribute 1,000 free copies to kids.
  7. 1 2 3 Neal, Meghan (March 1, 2014). "A Transhumanist Wants to Teach Kids That 'Death Is Wrong'". Motherboard. Vice. Retrieved August 25, 2014. But Stolyarov's strategy to groom the next generation to grow up thinking they might not have to die is unique—and more than a little bit creepy.
  8. 1 2 Bromwich, Jonah (May 19, 2018). "Death of a Biohacker". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2018. Gennady Stolyarov II, the chairman of the United States Transhumanist Party, a political organization with close to 880 members that supports life extension through science and technology, had been corresponding with Mr. Traywick since November 2015.
  9. ↑ Moore, James (March 6, 2014). "Transhumanism and All My Mortal Friends". HuffPost. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  10. 1 2 Hiscott, Rebecca (March 16, 2014). "Children's Book Teaches Kids 'Death Is Wrong'". Mashable. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ Butkovic, Leanne (February 24, 2014). "How Young Is Too Young To Learn About The Singularity?". Fast Company. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  12. ↑ Renstrom, Joelle (October 8, 2014). "The Transhumanist Party Announces Their 2016 Presidential Candidate". GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ Shrayber, Mark (March 15, 2014). "Should We Be Teaching Kids They Never Have to Die?". Jezebel. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  14. 1 2 3 Swain, Frank (April 20, 2014). "How to live forever". www.bbc.com. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  15. 1 2 Swain, Frank (September 23, 2014). "Cyborgs: The truth about human augmentation". BBC Future. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  16. ↑ Mellon, Jim; Chalabi, Al (2017). Juvenescence: Investing in the Age of Longevity. Fruitful Publications. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-9930478-1-7.
  17. ↑ Bickerton, James (July 6, 2020). "Trump challenged by radical presidential candidate hoping to REVERSE ageing". Express.co.uk. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  18. 1 2 3 Fosco, Molly; Watson, Carlos (March 26, 2019). "Fancy a Good Death? Tune in to OZY's New Podcast". OZY. Retrieved November 4, 2021. "'Radical life extension will be a combination of nanotechnology, robotics, AI and repairing the body at the cellular level,' says Gennady Stolyarov, chairman of the U.S. Transhumanist Party. Stolyarov and his party suggest that even a few billion dollars from private donations, investments or government grants could dramatically accelerate progress in the life-extension field." [...] "Nothing is beyond the reach of human reason in terms of improving our state of life, including the radical extension of human life." (Statement by Gennady Stolyarov II) [...] "Gennady Stolyarov and many other members of the group believe that many of us are already transhuman by virtue of wearing glasses or having fillings in our teeth." [...] "I think the future is one of integration between biological and mechanical or electronic augmentations. The key is to preserve a certain continuity of bodily processes. Whatever part you get, it needs to integrate seamlessly into your existing organism." (Statement by Gennady Stolyarov II)
  19. 1 2 3 Mackenzie, Laura (April 29, 2020). "The eternalists: hacking life to solve death". WIRED Middle East. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
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