Longevity & living for hundreds of years
Longevity is a slightly random thing to write about, I’ll admit. But I have been thinking about it a lot recently and it has been sparked by a couple of things. The first was a New Scientist issue that came out recently which detailed all the advances we are making toward longevity. And there are a lot. Obviously, at 46, I am hoping for developments that will help us regenerate and not just keep going; I’d like to swap my current rugged good looks for my previous youthful good looks. The second thing is that I am turning 47 this month and it is fucking depressing. So the idea of increased longevity is immensely appealing.
I am an agnostic which some people confuse with not being able to pick which god I believe in. That is not actually the case. I don’t happen to believe that there are any gods but as someone who loves science, I agree with its very sensible stand on such matters. There is currently no evidence for any god or gods – and there are around 2500 currently worshipped on this ever hopeful planet. Conversely, there is no evidence against there being some kind of being that created the big bang. So technically god/gods can’t be ruled out. When asked what I think happens when I die, I feel more honest than most when I say I don’t know. Because no one does. However, it is a universal truth is that one day we will all find out because of entropy. So I’m happy to wait and see. But I am certainly not in any hurry and secrets of increased longevity would be welcome indeed; my reading list is colossal and what with Netflix and the upcoming Disney+ service, I just need more time.
Quite a lot of the things detailed in New Scientist involve new drugs being developed and they are getting close. However, they also mention other things that have been proven to be helpful, such as intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is basically when you pick a period where you don’t eat and that puts your body into starvation mode. There are a ton of versions so you can just pick the one that suits you. In every mammal they have tried this on, longevity has increased. I have, for quite a while been doing the 16:8 version in an attempt to vaguely retain some youth while also shrinking a minor but persistent beer gut. I already look a week or two younger than I really am. To be honest, it was pretty easy as I have nearly always skipped breakfast, so now I just switched from latte to black coffee in the morning. I am sure it is not that simple but in my mind – longevity achieved. I am pretty sure red wine is good for you and am convinced that the benefits of regular beers are on the verge of discovery too.
This does, of course, raise a deep philosophical question. If everyone starts living longer, won’t the planet fill up? Well… Possibly. As modern societies advance though, the population has actually started to decline (look at Japan). It is predicted that we will peak at around 11 billion (according to the UN) and will then decline. Or climate change will thin out our herd dramatically. Or aliens/ zombies/ evil geniuses/ powerful beings snapping fingers/ whatever. So advances in longevity may save us. I don’t really have any point to make here, I just find the whole topic fascinating. The issue of New Scientist that sparked these thoughts came out on the 27th April 2019 if you are interested. Thanks to advances in science you can download it. As for intermittent fasting, there are roughly a billion websites and forums (that figure is a guess but I think pretty accurate) that bang on about it all the time.
Right, time for lunch.
