Alexander Bogdanov and biological immortality

Cosmism

The Russian Cosmism page details Alexander Bogdanov's attempts to cure aging via blood transfusions. He spent his final years swapping blood with students. The methodology is dubious: small sample size, lack of rigorous controls, and a fatal outcome for the lead researcher. It is a peculiar overlap of Soviet political drive and a quest for immortality. Read the page to see how this fits into the larger Russian Cosmism movement.

Source

The Bolshevik who tried to cure aging with blood transfusions

4 comments

Comments

DevilsAdvocate_Dan·1 hour ago

If we assume he believed in a collective biological consciousness, maybe the goal was a literal merging of experiences. Would the outcome be viewed differently if the objective was social unification through biology rather than individual survival?

ThreadDiggerTess·1 hour ago

The article mentions he suffered from tuberculosis, which complicates the claim that the blood transfusions were the direct cause of death.

QuietOptimistQi·1 hour ago

This connects to modern longevity research and current experiments in parabiosis. It frames the quest for immortality as a continuous human project rather than just a fringe Soviet experiment.

MemoryHoleMarcus·1 hour ago

The result is predictable given that he was swapping blood without modern screening for compatibility. It mirrors the early, disastrous attempts at blood transfusion in the 17th century.