A lot of the breakthroughs in this book seem too good to be true, and I've read elsewhere that the results discussed are controversial and no one else seems to have reproduced them, which tracks even if it's disappointing.
This book came out in 2019 and makes a few references to a "future pandemic" that raise eyebrows in 2024.
Overall I'm glad I read it, and I hope the author is right about our imminent ability to slow/reverse aging and keep folks healthy and hale into their 100s but I'm not exactly holding my breath.
have to say, this book is a rollercoaster - at times extremely interesting, at times cheesy to appeal to the 'woke' audience it is being sold to. some things are cool, some things are popular science the author has no idea about.
but his core things, the core question if the machine has indeed to die and why does it - I have to say I never even questioned it myself. Not even as a kid. I mean, if we are capable of restoring things - regrowing skin, repairing organs to an extent - why are these functions blocked after we turn 50? why is the machine failing?
I started taking MNM, mind you. And the parts about the global aging problem and our ways to go about it was of immense value. I wanna live longer, damn I wanna stay long enough to see us colonise some other planet …
have to say, this book is a rollercoaster - at times extremely interesting, at times cheesy to appeal to the 'woke' audience it is being sold to. some things are cool, some things are popular science the author has no idea about.
but his core things, the core question if the machine has indeed to die and why does it - I have to say I never even questioned it myself. Not even as a kid. I mean, if we are capable of restoring things - regrowing skin, repairing organs to an extent - why are these functions blocked after we turn 50? why is the machine failing?
I started taking MNM, mind you. And the parts about the global aging problem and our ways to go about it was of immense value. I wanna live longer, damn I wanna stay long enough to see us colonise some other planet XD
Curiosity, fire and courage to stay is all this book is about
Exciting stuff. Highly technical though, so I probably won't remember most of the biological jargon, but I'm tempted to buy a copy now so I can flip through it and refresh my memory (it wasn't too technical that this would be pointless for me as a laymen).
Also there's indeed a lot of wilful world-view dispensing as I've seen complained about in other reviews, but I didn't mind it (I just found it silly at times - eg: as a vegan who loves food, I found it a little tiring to hear his whining about how he loves meat and how that's unfortunately what humans find most palatable
An optimistic look at the future of aging, longevity, and healthcare.
The part most are probably reading for—how to live healthier and age slower—could be condensed down to a page or an article. But the rest of the book was mostly interesting and relevant too. I really enjoyed the author’s broad look at the healthcare industry.
Much of the advice is in line with Dan Buettner’s blue zone longevity habits, which are brought up in the book. Most healthy habits discussed will be things you already know or have heard about (diet, fasting, saunas, cryotherapy, etc), but hearing a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School gush about them while citing promising tests and studies is reassuring. He also discloses his own routines near the end.
The book's sections:
1. A history of longevity/aging science and progress. This is a mix of exciting sentences like "There is no biological law …
An optimistic look at the future of aging, longevity, and healthcare.
The part most are probably reading for—how to live healthier and age slower—could be condensed down to a page or an article. But the rest of the book was mostly interesting and relevant too. I really enjoyed the author’s broad look at the healthcare industry.
Much of the advice is in line with Dan Buettner’s blue zone longevity habits, which are brought up in the book. Most healthy habits discussed will be things you already know or have heard about (diet, fasting, saunas, cryotherapy, etc), but hearing a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School gush about them while citing promising tests and studies is reassuring. He also discloses his own routines near the end.
The book's sections:
1. A history of longevity/aging science and progress. This is a mix of exciting sentences like "There is no biological law that says we must age” and very technical discussions about yeast and rats.
2. How to combat aging. Aside from taking care of ourselves better, many methods involve activating our survival circuits or longevity genes in different ways. This is where stuff like fasting and extreme temperatures come in. Actionable directives aren’t summarized anywhere, so you have to note down bits of advice spread across many chapters.
3. The future of healthcare. What's improving, what’s not, and what’s coming soon. He covers a ton of bases: who keeps our smartwatch health data, self-driving cars saving lives but reducing organ donors, animal organ transplants, gene sequencing and storage, lots of early/preventative care becoming standard, and at-home testing and consultations with your physician online.
4. All of the moral, political, and economic issues that come with people not dying. Overpopulation, labor market, retirement, etc.
