Live Long Enough to Live Forever [11.30.2005]
I�ve been getting a few requests lately to write about my day to day life in my blog, so here goes nothing. I recently read a book called Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman.
The second chapter is preceded by this quotation: �Life expectancy will be in the region of 5,000 years� by the year 2100.� � Aubrey De Grey
Obviously this sounds pretty crazy. It is extremely optimistic, but the truth is that radical life extension has already started. Don�t forget the average life expectancy for humans was around forty years just a century ago (and 20-30 years a couple centuries before that). We�ve basically doubled the expectation in the past hundred years. What will happen in the next one hundred?
The authors write, �This book describes three bridges. 1. The First Bridge � Ray & Terry�s Longevity Program � consists of present-day therapies and guidance that will enable you to remain healthy long enough to take full advantage of the construction of the Second Bridge. 2. The Second Bridge is the biotechnology revolution. As we learn the genetic and protein codes of our biology, we are gaining the means of turning off disease and aging while we turn on our full human potential. This Second Bridge, in turn, will lead to the Third Bridge. 3. The Third Bridge is the nanotechnology-AI (artificial intelligence) revolution. This revolution will enable us to rebuild our bodies and brains at the molecular level.�
Many people are skeptical when it comes to Bridge Two and especially Bridge Three predictions. What people don�t realize is that technology increases at an exponential rate. Look at the year 1100. Then look at the year 1300. Notice a major difference? Probably not. Now look at the year 1800 and compare it to the year 2000. It doesn�t even look like the same planet. Just look at the past twenty years and think of how much the world has been changed by technology. Now imagine what the next hundred years will entail. The more inconceivable your guess is, the closer it probably is to reality. Just imagine how inconceivable today�s technology would be to the people of 1905.
Even if you are still skeptical, this book is a must read for any rational human being. The vast majority of the book focuses on Bridge One. The excerpts about Bridges Two and (and too a lesser extent, Three) mostly focus on the technologies that we already have available today that are either not safe enough for commercial use, or are simply too expensive. Unless you believe the author is flat out lying about what we can do today, it�s pretty hard to deny that some amazing stuff is going to happen in the near future. Those excerpts on Bridges Two and Three should only serve as motivation for you to concentrate on Bridge One.
Bridge One is about what we can do today. The truth is that most Americans are blind to the importance of a little nutritional value. This is simply because most people don�t have an unbiased source for health information. Take the field of medicine for example. If they told you that you can practically eliminate certain diseases with minimal inexpensive vitamin supplementation, what would happen to their prescription sales? They simply make more money keeping the public in the dark, so that�s exactly what they do.
The authors of the book are in their late 50�s and are very aggressive with their health regimen. I imagine that very few people that read the book take it as religiously as the authors do. The great thing about the book is you don�t need to be a health nut for it to have much value. The book addresses specific needs. Does diabetes run in your family? If so, stay away from carbs with a high GI index. The book goes through various conditions from heart disease to cancer and tells you exactly how to figure out if you are at risk or not. If you are at risk, it tells you exactly what measures you need to take.
Don�t worry, I haven�t lost it. As the poker player that I am, I try to think about everything in the book very rationally. I think about concepts like efficiency and risk vs. reward before making any rash decisions. I�m a food connoisseur, so I get a lot of pleasure from the foods I eat. The question is, what small sacrifices can I make that will have long lasting benefits? Here are some things I have decided to take into consideration. Skip down to the next ***** if you simply don�t care what I eat and want me to finish up.
Firstly, I will continue to avoid soda. I have always enjoyed water more even forgetting the health reasons. For most Americans out there, drinking water instead of soda is the healthiest change possible (other than perhaps quitting smoking).
I�ve always loved Japanese food. Lucky for me, that stuff is extremely healthy. The average Japanese person lives ten years longer than the average American, and it�s primarily because of nutrition. If I needed to, I could live the rest of my life off of miso soup and salmon sashimi alone.
Sweets. I�ve always preferred hot foods over desserts. I can�t tell you how many times I ordered a post-entr�e appetizer while everyone else at the table ordered a dessert. This had nothing to do with health. Since it just so happens that I prefer healthier foods than desserts, I�m going to continue to avoid desserts.
I always drink filtered tap water, but before reading this book I had no idea that drinking water with a higher pH value is extremely healthy (Yes, water is neutral, but the minerals in tap water change things drastically). All I have to do for this is to replace my current filter with an alkalinized filter.
I�m going to take a vitamin supplement twice a day to increase the amount of many nutrients that I don�t get enough of in my regular diet.
I�m also going to continue to work out four times a week and eat a high protein diet, but I was already doing that already just because I want to look good.
I�ve never liked fast food much, so I�m going to pretty much avoid that all together, although I might not want to give up the occasional meal from Popeyes.
I�m also going to eat more organic vegetables and fruits. These actually taste better than their non-organic counterparts, so this change is win-win.
*****
It may sound like a lot of changes that I�m making, but most of this is just concentrating on stuff that I really don�t mind doing at all. I�m not giving up any foods that I love like sushi or steak. I suppose many of the foods I like are conveniently healthy, but still! Even if the only recommendation in the book you take seriously is taking two vitamin pills a day, that can have a significant effect.
So anyway, I HIGHLY recommend this book. Go to Amazon.com or your local book shop and ask the shop keep for a copy of Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live forever by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman. I�ve already bought almost a dozen copies for family members and friends, and every one of them has taken at least a few major recommendations from this book. Again, the great thing is they can all take away different recommendations from it that are specific to their health needs.
-READ THIS BOOK
-Justin Bonomo
