By Charalampos Karouzos,
In the previous part, we were introduced to Bryan Johnson’s anti-aging routine.
Although the man is in perfect health in terms of physical health, many have argued that living such a constrictive lifestyle would be a living hell. However, the man is supporting exactly the opposite and he is clearly stating that “Now, I feel happier, more alive and fulfilled than any time before. I am nicer to those around me, no longer irritable and my mind is clear. It made me wonder: instead of pointing at others and demanding change, could the societal and planetary change we desire to start by changing ourselves from within?” Although there is no objective way to establish psychological wellbeing, Johnson is supporting that his decision to improve his lifestyle and especially manage his sleep, achieving incredible sleep results achieving 100% sleep quality for more than 6 weeks according to his latest result, have made his life significantly better.
Bryan Johnson, has established and achieved a state of living that for him provides a happy and healthy lifestyle, he strongly supports that he doesn’t miss or want to go back to the average lifestyle, but what is the effect of this project on humanity as a whole? Initially, it must be highlighted that although this way of living has been successful for Bryan, it would be unethical and unhealthy to enforce the specific diet, exercise, and treatment plan to every man or woman seeking optimal health. Adjustments must be made for different individuals and to achieve the goals of everyone. However, the objective outcome scientists and the public are very interested in is which of these steps taken by Johnson can be extracted and applied to the average human, with minimal alteration of their lifestyle, and a significant impact on their health and ageing. The man behind the project blueprint has revealed that he has seen incredible result by optimizing his sleep, the most important aspect of his day as he states.
Recent research in the field of aging and rejuvenation has shed light on the intricate mechanisms underlying the aging process, however, significant challenges remain, most important of which is the ethical considerations about testing these protocols. Johnson, in fact, has surpassed the obstacle as he has let his lifestyle in terms of diet, exercise, and treatments to be managed by pure data. Many would argue that the approach of the man is very simplistic and doesn’t attempt to utilize the currently emerging high-end technologies and treatments that actively alter and modify our genes and cells to counteract the effect of time. Johnson and now a new participant, a woman (we don’t know more details at the time this article has been written), have indicated that significant steps can be taken regarding rejuvenation, by simply making small and maybe insignificant changes in the way we feed and train ourselves. Humanity is always excited about innovating and cutting-edge technology that promises better results but before we reach, if ever, that stage of rejuvenation technology, it appears to be significantly more attenable to focus on lifestyle modification and well-established procedures. Stem cell therapy, gene editing, senolytic drugs, and similar technologies apart from being products of high-end research they present with significant ethical concerns which further limit their possible interpretation as anti-ageing strategies.
To conclude, many, even after understanding the idea behind the project, fail to appreciate its ambitious goal to achieve a decrease in the ageing process, as they are not willing to sacrifice their everyday life. It is true that following such strict guidelines on the way we perceive reality, maybe going countercurrent to the established social status quo would have difficulties from the initiation to the final long-term exhibition. It would be unwise to consider our societies functioning under all these set conditions of living, but maybe we should appreciate the fact that a man is freely proving humanity with data that after being examined, a potential set of beneficiary changes could be extracted that would make our lives healthier and more meaningful.
References
- Salvador Dalí. moma.org. Available here
- The tech entrepreneur betting he can get younger. bbc.com. Available here
