Elon Musk says it’s ‘highly likely’ humans figure out how to reverse aging — but there’s ‘some benefit to death’

• Elon Musk said aging is a “very solvable problem” at the World Economic Forum on Thursday.
• As people live longer, Musk said, we might risk an “ossification of society.”
• “It may become stultifying. A lack of vibrancy,” Musk said.

Elon Musk says he thinks aging will one day be solved.

The world’s richest man said getting older was a “very solvable problem” during a conversation with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at the World Economic Forum on Thursday.

“When we figure out what causes aging, I think we’ll find it’s incredibly obvious. It’s not a subtle thing,” Musk said. “The reason I say it’s not a subtle thing is because all the cells in your body, you know, pretty much age at the same rate. I’ve never seen someone with an old left arm and a young right arm ever in my life, so why is that? There must be a clock that is synchronizing across 35 trillion cells in your body,”

But Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said there would be some downsides to longer lives.

“You know, there is some benefit to death, by the way. There’s a reason why we don’t actually have a longer lifespan, because if people do live for a very long time, I think there’s some risk of an ossification of society. Of things getting locked in place,” he said. “It may become stultifying. A lack of vibrancy, but that said, do I think we’ll figure out ways to extend life and maybe even reverse aging? I think that’s highly likely.”

Musk’s surprise appearance was his first time onstage at the World Economic Forum, which he’d previously called “boring af.” His conversation with Fink was wide-ranging, but didn’t reveal much new information.

Dozens of political and business leaders from across the globe gathered in Davos, Switzerland, this week to attend the World Economic Forum. The guest list included President Donald Trump, who made his case for the US to annex Greenland and the US’s economic agenda during his address on Wednesday.

Trump’s push for Greenland has rattled European leaders and the US markets. It’s also shocked Greenlanders, who have spoken against the annexation and the Trump administration.

“We’re not for sale,” one resident said.

Trump said the US would not use military force to take Greenland, but has leveraged tariffs against European countries in his campaign.

The weeklong event ends on Friday with closing remarks from WEF President Børge Brende and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning.