Dreams of improving the human race are no longer science fiction

IT WAS AFTER tripping on hallucinogenic mushrooms that Christian Angermayer realised he had a personal mission to help the human race improve itself. Having passed through the “gateway to God” opened by psychedelic drugs, the German tech billionaire wanted to usher the rest of humanity in the same direction. Nowadays his investment fund not only champions the use of such drugs as a treatment for mental-health problems, but is also “pushing the boundaries for human enhancement overall”, meaning treatments to make people stronger, smarter and longer-lived. He has also donated to a $101m prize-pot for scientific breakthroughs that slow ageing and is helping to found a competition called the Enhanced Games, in which athletes can earn $1m for breaking world records using the sorts of doping that would normally disqualify them.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Cyborgs, superhumans and cranks”