Why We Age & Why We Don't Have To.
Aging is not inevitable; aging is a disease, and that disease is treatable. Reviewing my favourite book from 2020 – Lifespan by Dr. Sinclair.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.” R. P. Feynman,”
― David A. Sinclair, Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To
January 5th, 2020, it’s 3:15 AM and I’m taking a red-eye from Pune to Delhi. I had better expectations from the first few hours of my birthday since I turned 20, but destiny had plans for me to be tucked in a metal tube at 14,000 ft. in the air for two hours. The only thing fun about terminal hopping for me is the Relay stalls that showcase a grandstand myriad of books. In the littlest corner crammed between the themes of “Death” and “Eternity” was a book titled, “Lifespan: Why We Age & Why We Don’t Have To” by David A. Sinclair, Ph.D. I think the position of the book was an amusing joke by the storekeepers.
Be that as it may, 8 months later with the global pandemic changing everything familiar about the world, we are increasingly reminded of our own mortality every waking second of the day.
It seemed rather pertinent that I examine my favorite book from this year. Perusing it will profoundly change how you view aging, health and it’s “inevitability status” associated since the dawn of time, science, and philosophy.
The cosmic question, “Can we live forever?” is finally answered.
The Book
The hallmarks of aging. Biological factors that go into human aging and reduce our vitality on progressing timeline.
Given the title, I instantly thought this would be “hacks for longevity” “eat right, live bright” kind of fad which I could implement to my life, and that was my only motivation towards the book.
But I’m glad for how far I was from the truth.
Towards the end, I didn't consider it a book, yet as a discussion with David himself, having the chance to find out about this man. It’s a journey that takes us through time and space with David being our guide. Extracting examples and values from his personal life and professional work he’s a genuine researcher and an analyst.
David is human as a human can be. Furthermore, he's earnest in his message.
Geneticist Dr. David A. Sinclair (Ph.D. Harvard University) With Joe Rogan on The Joe Rogan Experience.
The entire book is incredibly didactic, through it I explored collegiate level evolutionary biology from the lens of philosophy and technology. In a considerably more captivating style, and I learned significantly more about how complicated, incomprehensibly complex machines and cycles occur inside us at atomic levels. We take a lot for granted when it comes to being human. Drawing a beautiful parallel between exploring the secrets of the universe and secrets of ourselves on the same cosmic timelines.
The book astoundingly outperformed every one of my expectations and shifted my paradigms concerning science, humankind, aging, and the future.
Why Read?
Authors audacious claim to tackle, mitigate, and reduce aging altogether.
This book is revolutionary. It makes one question his worldview constantly. Not only you progress through these questions of conventional defiance in science but you do so with the mindset of a researcher standing on the shoulders of giants in the field of human biology and backed by grueling data to support these claims.
I am a better person after reading it and I’ll revisit it for eventual consulting and just sheer interest.
Yet, the fundamental reason I suggest this book is on the premise that David persuaded me about the seriousness of what revolution and breakthroughs in human aging would mean for our future as a species. We will redefine what it means to be human realistically. Something only discussed without the religious connotations in Nietzsche’s philosophy of Ubermensch, (Super Human). The big question that David asked and the shreds of evidence provided are solitary, pragmatic, and profound. I've never observed someone else have such a wholistic and mindful view on tending to the effect of an expanded life span and it's implications to us all.
This book is a lecture, dialogue, advice, a debate, and a masterclass all in one.
My Learnings
This seminal piece of writing was capable of changing my viewpoint towards life. I would prefer not to ruin it for you, (in reality, regardless of whether I knew all the substance already, I would read it again) however this book showed me things far beyond the concepts of human longevity or "methods to living longer".
The insights are valuable yet it could not hope to compare to the lessons of a more logical and tangible understanding of our perceived reality, just as the essential advances we — as a collective species and civilization must take, to manage the ever-changing, progressively complex, and uncertain world.
I lost my father to Parkinson’s disease preceded by years of battle with diabetes and hemiplegic paralysis back in 2018. He was a man who professed passionately about the importance of living healthy and building good habits early on. Whether to the blind spots in his own habits or owing to the faults in his genes he succumbed to a disease that plagues at least 500 million people worldwide every year with a detrimental ending for himself. God rest his soul.
At age 20, I carry the same hereditary genetic disorder of Type II diabetes dating back 4 generations in my family (father to son). As of now the gene, it’s recessive, unresponsive, undetected, and lurking from the shadows waiting to be activated. With a healthy life, habits, and practices I can go through my life avoiding any such activation but I cannot withdraw this from my future generations. Hence, it all comes down to how vigilant we are in terms of taking care of ourselves in the light of unprecedented changes in our lifestyles, environment, and any subsequent changes. Asking questions about my own mortality at age 20 puts things in perspective. I don’t know everything, I won’t live forever, experience trumps knowledge and I can be destroyed. These ideas not only humble me but push me to serve and help uplift others. I don’t want to be housebound or in a nursing home nearing 80. I want to be alive and thriving. Seeing my future generations prosper and building on my legacy, with me.
The quest for that life begins today, every day. Improving at 0.01% until the light goes out.
Educating by example, David acquainted each digression with the ramifications and consequences of aging and it's the unavoidable yet excruciating end, addressing and clarifying even perspectives that are against his own. It's not a narcissistic claim or egocentric excursion that he makes, however, it's a first-row seat to what we're going to experience as a society, as a civilization. Together, inevitably.
I hope all of this for you too.
I see myself as not just privileged for having the chance of understanding it, yet additionally for becoming more acquainted and aware with the psyche of another extraordinary man, who is pushing mankind forward, with a grounded yet hopeful perspective on the future and who, through the sharing of his work, picked up my reverence.
Thank you for reading!
Get the book here: https://lifespanbook.com/
-Chai.