In the identical means that genome sequencing determines the genetic make-up of an organism, Bryan Johnson — the investor and founder behind the Don’t Die motion — needs to start out “foodome” sequencing.
“We’re going to sequence the U.S. ‘foodome,’ which suggests take a look at 20% of meals that represent 80% of the American weight-reduction plan primarily based on stuff we eat on a regular basis,” Johnson mentioned Thursday on the SXSW competition in Austin.
Johnson is the founder and former CEO of Kernel, a mind monitoring gadget firm, the founding father of OS Fund, and the founder and former CEO of e-commerce firm Braintree.
At this time, he’s obsessive about discovering methods to increase his lifespan and preaching that gospel to others. He has taken excessive measures, together with transfusing his blood with that of his 17-year-old son and present process shock remedy therapy to get extra nighttime erections, which he says straight correlates to well being.
Most of his tips on life-extending habits are straightforward sufficient to guess: Get higher sleep. Spend time with group. Train. Eat wholesome. However Johnson says it’s not as straightforward to eat wholesome as you suppose.
“I wish to be actual with you. It’s simply very, very exhausting to purchase clear meals,” he mentioned, noting that the majority meals from grocery shops, even the natural manufacturers, may have toxins from numerous processing strategies.
His objective is to check as a lot meals as potential and create a public database the place folks can donate cash to have sure meals and types examined for toxins reminiscent of heavy metals or microplastics. The outcomes, he hopes, will maintain manufacturers accountable for unsafe meals practices.
The concept acquired a spherical of applause from the packed viewers at SXSW, who eagerly participated in Johnson’s numerous respiratory workout routines, prompts to maneuver round, and a long life experiment that concerned balancing on one foot with eyes closed. (I made it to 30 seconds — no large deal.)
Johnson has confronted numerous hate on-line for his eccentric philosophy that with the appearance of AI, we would be the first era that doesn’t need to die.
“We’re giving start to tremendous intelligence. It’s the largest factor taking place in the whole world now,” Johnson mentioned, including that no present ideology explains the best way to deal with AI and that the survival of our species is not assured now that AI has entered the image.
“The human race can be clever to repurpose its targets [around AI and] away from cash at any value to ‘Don’t Die.’”
In different phrases, whereas we debate AI alignment with the human race, why not align AI with the mission of preserving human life? Why not, he asks, use AI to faucet into thousands and thousands of “human-level geniuses” to trace human progress and sort out ageing’s largest challenges?
It’s a provocative query and one which has drawn criticism from skeptics who argue that dying is a necessary a part of being human.
Dr. Andrew Steele, a long life scientist, acknowledges that consuming effectively and exercising helps prolong life, however that genetics — not excessive measures — performs a bigger function in figuring out life expectancy.
However that perspective hasn’t deterred Johnson from selling his “Blueprint Protocol,” his way of life system for sustaining what he says are the world’s finest biomarkers. He’s additionally advertising his personal line of dietary supplements and meals. His model of olive oil is satirically — or aptly — named Snake Oil.
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