Tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, who's 45, follows a strict behavioural regime every day, convinced it will extend his life by umpteen years (it's not clear how many extra years he reckons he'll have).
He eats lots of vegetables, takes 54 pills every morning, does intensive workouts and undergoes red-light therapy (whatever that is). He looks healthy enough, but will a few extra years really justify this strenuous and time-consuming regime?
At the age of 76 I reckon I've lived quite long enough. I've had a fulfilling life with very few regrets. I've met lots of interesting people, soaked up every type of culture, travelled around the world. I've no desire to hang on till I'm 100 and due to get congratulations from King Charles.
How will this guy know if he's increased his lifespan, anyway? If he lives to 100, how will he know if that's his natural lifespan or his artificially extended one? Lots of people live well into their nineties (as my mum did) without any special attempts to live longer.
And why exactly does he want to live longer? Does he think the extra years will make him happier, or more knowledgeable, or more confident? Or is it just for a rather odd sense of achievement?
Not so long ago people often died in their thirties. Now many of us live three times as long. Surely that's enough? Do we really need to go on and on and on? Isn't that just a tad narcissistic?
Pic: Bryan Johnson
I wouldn't do what he does but people always want to push boundaries don't they? I guess this is his!
ReplyDeleteJenny: True, some people love to push boundaries. Not me though, I'm the cautious risk-averse type!
DeleteWhat irritates me, slightly, is that I won't be around to find out the results of his attempt! That's the thing about getting older, you begin to realise that you're not going to read the end of the tale for many things. Unless, of course, things go terribly wrong and we have a mass joint ending!
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: Very true, so many things and people we'll never catch up with in the future. Will Greta Thunberg still be a fiery radical at age 80 or will she have hung up her protest boots?
Delete54 pills sounds like he’s being taken for a ride by some snake oil salesman! I’m all about trying to exercise and eat right so that I can maintain good health, but I really don’t want to prolong my life if I can’t enjoy it. And taking 54 pills and doing weird therapeutics would be me NOT enjoying life! Ha!
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Me too. No way I'd take 54 pills every day and subject myself to exhausting workouts. I'm quite happy just drifting along for how ever many years I've got left.
DeleteNick, this guy looks spooky . Never ever I would take 54 pills , I have to take 3 pills a day for my heart problems and I find it already quite enough. We should accept our "life clock" , living healthy is one thing , prolonge life to a 100 or more years with pills , blood transfusion,operations no. I once saw a document where a guy here in Germany had several electronic chips under his skin to open his car, the house door and asking the oven to start heating.A real horror idea for me.
ReplyDeleteHannah
Hannah: Yes, it's spooky, isn't it? Why does he want to live longer anyway? What exactly will he achieve by it? Will he be happier? I doubt it. The guy with the electronic chips is seriously weird!
DeleteShould get him to look at Keith Richards and Mick Jagger.....perhaps try what makes them tick!
ReplyDeleteFly: Good question. I gather Mick Jagger has a very healthy lifestyle with strenuous workouts. As far as I know Keith Richards does nothing at all to safeguard his health. Yet they're both still going strong. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI had a work companion who spent every morning at a gym. I used to tease him that the extra years he added to his life by exercising would have all been spent--at the gym. Sadly he died before he retired.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: Good point about the extra years having been spent at the gym. And then he died prematurely anyway.
DeleteHow lonely one would be unless one plans to drag all the rellies and friends into the cyber chamber with you.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
www: Yes, you'd be very lonely - unless you had friends following the same regime and living as long as you.
DeleteBeatrice says "If this guy thinks that his pill-popping regime will prolong his life, more power to him. Personally, I have watched stories of people living to be well into their 90s and beyond who do nothing more than follow a sensible diet and spend time outdoors. Personally, I take 0 pills or medications and plan to keep it that way for as long as possible.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice: Exactly. My mum lived to 96 and never bothered with any kind of supposedly healthy lifestyle. Lucky you, not taking any medicines. I take one pill for slightly raised blood pressure and that's it.
DeleteI don't get that either. Maybe they are just afraid to die because of the unknown factor.
ReplyDeleteMary: Very likely. Or they're attention-seekers who want a few more years of attention.
DeleteI understand fear. I understand fear of death. But I still wouldn't want to live forever.
ReplyDeleteColette: I don't even have a fear of death. I'll leave this world and that's that. But I do have a fear of a long and miserable terminal illness.
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