An extremely well researched and informative article. At 78, the "late 2030s" probably come too late to help me. Drawing parallels with fusion energy, practical approaches always seem to be 20 - 25 years distant.
Great review. I've read over 150 books on cellular healing, detox and biohacking. A couple of researchers and doctors worth following in this realm include Dave Asprey, Dan Pompa, Jason Fung, Natasha Winters, Ben Bickman and others; there are so many natural approaches to healing and longevity.
I think that there are moral and rational aspects to this which also need to be considered. Death is as natural as birth.
To wish to live a good and long life is both natural and moral. It is far more questionable to seek to prolong life ad infinitum. Far better to seek to make the lives we have as good, healthy, peaceful and happy as we can, and then to depart without regrets. I, for one, have no fear of being dead, although the process of dying makes me a bit nervous.
You’re right. Comment after comment, like the article, assumed that life extension is an unambiguous plus. The lesson from the governmental reaction to Covid (“One death is too many” - Boris Johnson) shows this to be false: older people died a few months or a couple of years later than they might have done. I lost several old friends in this period. The warm autumn of our lives was a social thing, revolving around the bowling green, cards and dominoes, the pub, and an occasional bus trip. That quality of life was shut down. We were miserable working class versions of Howard Hughes, forced by the hysteria of governments to die lonely - and society as a whole, especially children (for whom the virus was not a significant risk), paid a hideous (and ongoing) price.
But smallpox is also as natural as birth. Should we not seek to eliminate it? And there is no reason why one cannot seek to maximize the life in our years while also extending the years in our lives. In truth, many of the most basic things involved, good diet, exercise, sleep and a number of drugs actually make our day to day lives better too.
At any age, living a healthy disease free life for longer is desirable. As I get older I become more excited about these things for my children and grandchildren, but the possibility of an extra few decades remains appealing. First though, I will “listen to my mother” hoping I will not need any radical drugs or therapies at least until they become commonplace.
I asked Anna, 🎨 What does radical optimism mean to you, personally and artistically?
Anna told me, “For me, it means asserting agency, especially where fear and resignation are politically or economically instrumentalised. This trust is radical because it does not rely on existing conditions but arises from the will to change. It is about the courage to hope for a future that one cannot yet imagine.”
"It is about the courage to hope for a future that one cannot yet imagine.”
Extremely informative. I am 84 and credit my good health, up to a few years ago, to my giving blood. I had given 35+ gallons up to when I was forced to take blood thinners. My health problems started a couple of years later.
All sounds lovely but probably very expensive---as far as my life and many others are concerned on fixed incomes it will probably be out of reach unless insurance or Medicare decide to pick up the tab. Maybe next life though!
In theory this all sounds wonderful. Unfortunately today the world would be a better place if some people alive had shorter not longer lives. We all have our own list. Again unfortunately some of the people the world would be better off without are those most likely to make their way to the front of the line for any life extending therapy. How can we come up with a system that avoids that?
One of the challenges of all of this is that as more and more the government funds healthcare it becomes quite a disincentive for them to see older people lasting longer, and especially so when they are funding retirement for people too. So, although less flashy than fancy new drugs, the simple fact is that a dramatic lengthening of people's lives also requires a dramatic change in the way in which society and the relationship between society and government, must take place.
We have already seen the crisis with this as, for example, US social security, designed for people to die much younger than today, is utterly overwhelmed by the consequences of the changes that have already taken place. No doubt equivalent pension schemes in other countries are similarly at risk.
And it isn't just government, just society broadly would need to change. Old people have died off meaning there is space for the younger people to take over. What happens what that is no longer happening?
Science fiction is full of stories where older people are pressured into dying to make way for the younger. That is not a future I'd like to see.
The elephant in the room is that each generation after the boomers has become sicker and sicker. Especially since 1986. it seems obvious to me that it is due to all the transfections, oops vaccines, making kids sicker. They will not live as long because nobody seems to be able to figure out how to make them healthy.
I believe that there is a certain amount of fate determining how long we live as well as how we live our lives. All the supps and interventions in the world may not change our life expectancy....
Great article. There is a minor issue with using average life expectancy as a measure when considering the therapeutic effects that are discussed. The biggest drag on average longevity is early death. Infant mortality, adolescence suicide, murder, automotive and accidents pull the averages downward far more than a 55 year old having a heart attack. Equally important is quality and all body systems need to stop aging for that. I’m 75 and in good health. Maybe someone can improve my heart related causes, but with rotten diffuse arthritis, not sure it’s worth living longer in pain.
As a devout Christian, I am okay with living forever here. More time to teach others about true Christianity. I will die when my time comes, whether that is tomorrow or a thousand years from now.
An extremely well researched and informative article. At 78, the "late 2030s" probably come too late to help me. Drawing parallels with fusion energy, practical approaches always seem to be 20 - 25 years distant.
Great review. I've read over 150 books on cellular healing, detox and biohacking. A couple of researchers and doctors worth following in this realm include Dave Asprey, Dan Pompa, Jason Fung, Natasha Winters, Ben Bickman and others; there are so many natural approaches to healing and longevity.
I think that there are moral and rational aspects to this which also need to be considered. Death is as natural as birth.
To wish to live a good and long life is both natural and moral. It is far more questionable to seek to prolong life ad infinitum. Far better to seek to make the lives we have as good, healthy, peaceful and happy as we can, and then to depart without regrets. I, for one, have no fear of being dead, although the process of dying makes me a bit nervous.
You’re right. Comment after comment, like the article, assumed that life extension is an unambiguous plus. The lesson from the governmental reaction to Covid (“One death is too many” - Boris Johnson) shows this to be false: older people died a few months or a couple of years later than they might have done. I lost several old friends in this period. The warm autumn of our lives was a social thing, revolving around the bowling green, cards and dominoes, the pub, and an occasional bus trip. That quality of life was shut down. We were miserable working class versions of Howard Hughes, forced by the hysteria of governments to die lonely - and society as a whole, especially children (for whom the virus was not a significant risk), paid a hideous (and ongoing) price.
covid was the greatest psyop of all time. due to the shots life exectancy numbers will drop dramatically soon....
But smallpox is also as natural as birth. Should we not seek to eliminate it? And there is no reason why one cannot seek to maximize the life in our years while also extending the years in our lives. In truth, many of the most basic things involved, good diet, exercise, sleep and a number of drugs actually make our day to day lives better too.
At any age, living a healthy disease free life for longer is desirable. As I get older I become more excited about these things for my children and grandchildren, but the possibility of an extra few decades remains appealing. First though, I will “listen to my mother” hoping I will not need any radical drugs or therapies at least until they become commonplace.
Interesting turn of phrase, "It may sound optimistic, even a bit irrational, but it’s certainly not out of the question."
Optimism is never irrational.
I interviewed Anna Witt, whose exhibition in Berlin is called Radical Optimism. https://open.substack.com/pub/victorperton/p/anna-witts-radical-optimism-as-an?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
I asked Anna, 🎨 What does radical optimism mean to you, personally and artistically?
Anna told me, “For me, it means asserting agency, especially where fear and resignation are politically or economically instrumentalised. This trust is radical because it does not rely on existing conditions but arises from the will to change. It is about the courage to hope for a future that one cannot yet imagine.”
"It is about the courage to hope for a future that one cannot yet imagine.”
Excellent reference.
Thank you, Galland.
Extremely informative. I am 84 and credit my good health, up to a few years ago, to my giving blood. I had given 35+ gallons up to when I was forced to take blood thinners. My health problems started a couple of years later.
All sounds lovely but probably very expensive---as far as my life and many others are concerned on fixed incomes it will probably be out of reach unless insurance or Medicare decide to pick up the tab. Maybe next life though!
In theory this all sounds wonderful. Unfortunately today the world would be a better place if some people alive had shorter not longer lives. We all have our own list. Again unfortunately some of the people the world would be better off without are those most likely to make their way to the front of the line for any life extending therapy. How can we come up with a system that avoids that?
One of the challenges of all of this is that as more and more the government funds healthcare it becomes quite a disincentive for them to see older people lasting longer, and especially so when they are funding retirement for people too. So, although less flashy than fancy new drugs, the simple fact is that a dramatic lengthening of people's lives also requires a dramatic change in the way in which society and the relationship between society and government, must take place.
We have already seen the crisis with this as, for example, US social security, designed for people to die much younger than today, is utterly overwhelmed by the consequences of the changes that have already taken place. No doubt equivalent pension schemes in other countries are similarly at risk.
And it isn't just government, just society broadly would need to change. Old people have died off meaning there is space for the younger people to take over. What happens what that is no longer happening?
Science fiction is full of stories where older people are pressured into dying to make way for the younger. That is not a future I'd like to see.
The elephant in the room is that each generation after the boomers has become sicker and sicker. Especially since 1986. it seems obvious to me that it is due to all the transfections, oops vaccines, making kids sicker. They will not live as long because nobody seems to be able to figure out how to make them healthy.
I believe that there is a certain amount of fate determining how long we live as well as how we live our lives. All the supps and interventions in the world may not change our life expectancy....
Great article. There is a minor issue with using average life expectancy as a measure when considering the therapeutic effects that are discussed. The biggest drag on average longevity is early death. Infant mortality, adolescence suicide, murder, automotive and accidents pull the averages downward far more than a 55 year old having a heart attack. Equally important is quality and all body systems need to stop aging for that. I’m 75 and in good health. Maybe someone can improve my heart related causes, but with rotten diffuse arthritis, not sure it’s worth living longer in pain.
As a devout Christian, I am okay with living forever here. More time to teach others about true Christianity. I will die when my time comes, whether that is tomorrow or a thousand years from now.