In the identical manner 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 implies take a look at 20% of meals that represent 80% of the American weight-reduction plan based mostly on stuff we eat on a regular basis,” Johnson mentioned Thursday on the SXSW pageant in Austin.
Johnson is the founder and former CEO of Kernel, a mind monitoring system firm, the founding father of OS Fund, and the founder and former CEO of e-commerce firm Braintree.
Immediately, 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 instantly correlates to well being.
Most of his tips on life-extending habits are simple sufficient to guess: Get higher sleep. Spend time with group. Train. Eat wholesome. However Johnson says it’s not as simple to eat wholesome as you assume.
“I wish to be actual with you. It’s simply very, very arduous to purchase clear meals,” he mentioned, noting that the majority meals from grocery shops, even the natural manufacturers, might have toxins from varied processing strategies.
His objective is to check as a lot meals as potential and create a public database the place individuals 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 thought obtained a spherical of applause from the packed viewers at SXSW, who eagerly participated in Johnson’s varied respiration 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 huge deal.)
Johnson has confronted a whole lot of hate on-line for his eccentric philosophy that with the arrival of AI, we will be the first era that doesn’t need to die.
“We’re giving beginning to tremendous intelligence. It’s the most important factor taking place in all the world now,” Johnson mentioned, including that no current ideology explains tips on how to deal with AI and that the survival of our species is now not assured now that AI has entered the image.
“The human race could be clever to repurpose its aims [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 deal with getting old’s largest challenges?
It’s a provocative query and one which has drawn criticism from skeptics who argue that dying is an important 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 position in figuring out life expectancy.
However that perspective hasn’t deterred Johnson from selling his “Blueprint Protocol,” his life-style method for sustaining what he says are the world’s greatest 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.
