Gennady Stolyarov II


Gennady Stolyarov II is an American libertarian and transhumanist writer and civil servant known for his book Death is Wrong. Other works of his have been published by the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, Le Québécois Libre, the Mises Institute, and his own online publication, The Rational Argumentator. Stolyarov also leads two transhumanist political parties and works as an actuary and insurance regulator in Nevada.

Early life

Stolyarov lived in Minsk, Belarus, at a young age. After migrating to the United States and becoming an American citizen, he attended Hillsdale College with a triple major in economics, German, and mathematics. Robert P. Murphy called Stolyarov his "best student at Hillsdale College".

Career

Stolyarov is an actuary as well as a writer. He has been highly influenced by the philosophy of Ayn Rand. His writings include science fiction, philosophical essays, poetry, and study guides. He has also published his own musical compositions and a series of podcasts called the G + W Audio Broadcasts with his former wife, Wendy.
In February 2014, Stolyarov started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to give his children's book, Death is Wrong, to 1000 children. In the book, he argues that death is an enemy and encourages readers to help overcome it using technology. 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." Meghan Neal of Motherboard also called the book "creepy" but noted, "Wacky as this still all sounds, he may have a point." B. J. Murphy of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies called Death is Wrong a "wonderful children's book" and wrote, "This is the book I wish I'd have read as a young child." Zoltan Istvan, in his transhumanist column for Psychology Today, agreed with Murphy, adding, "I thought the book was fun to read and important in what it tries to accomplish." According to the book campaign's Indiegogo page, the goal of $5000 was exceeded by late April 2014.
Stolyarov is also involved in transhumanist politics. He is the chairman of the United States Transhumanist Party, which advocates life extension with about 1,100 members as of October 2018. There is no monetary cost to being a member of the United States Transhumanist Party, according to the U.S. Transhumanist Party website. He is also registered as the Chief Executive of the Nevada Transhumanist Party. In 2018, Stolyarov began a campaign to run for a seat on the board of trustees for the Indian Hills General Improvement District in Indian Hills, Nevada. In September 2018, Stolyarov was a speaker at the 2018 RAAD Festival, a major festival devoted to promoting life extension technologies.