Personal Longevity: What can we do?

By Peter Voss | 1 January 2017
Medium

Longevity is the concept of living a vital life for a longer than normal period.

Why Longevity? That’s another story… How, then?

Key overall factors are Knowledge, Money, Motivation. These give us the power to extend our vital life-spans, and delay (prevent?) death.

Specifically, we want both to reduce the chances of ‘untimely’ death, and also to extend ‘the time’. Note, that on some factors there may be a trade-off between quality and (expected) quantity of life.

Untimely death can be accidental, or deliberate. Preventing irrational Suicide is really a question of mental well-being (see below).

Types of Accidental Death — Reducing the risks:

Road — Motor, Cycling, Running, Walking: Seatbelt, driving skills, protective gear, dangers of Walkman.
Crime: Where you live/ work/ shop/ play. Self-defense.
Natural Disasters & Fire: Where you live, risk assessment, preparedness.
Home/ Hobby/ Work Accidents: Risk assessment, good training, good equipment.
Medical — Medication & Surgery: Good research, being able to afford the best.
Choices of Behavior — Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, Travel, Hobbies: Carefully evaluate risk/ reward ratio.

Making our bodies (& minds) last longer is a question of Health/ Well-Being — Physical, Cognitive, Emotional, Moral, Financial:

Assessing Status: Check-ups & tests (incl. genetic). Medical, psychological, moral, and financial advice.
Diet — General: Lifestyle changes instead of Diets (eg. steady weight). Quality of foods (nutrients). Quantity of food.
Diet — CRON: Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition — by far, the most effective method of extending life-span.
Exercise: Moderate. Include cardio-vascular & strength (bone-density).
Sleep: Health & stress factors, as well as accident prevention. Quality of life.
Stress: Good vs. bad. Relaxation, music, pets?
Relationships: Emotional & utilitarian (trade, knowledge/ advice, assistance) value.
Purpose & Activity: Meaningful goals & stimulating, engaging activity. Passions!
Moral Habits — Virtues that facilitate useful Knowledge, help us identify & achieve Goals: Rationality (overcoming rationalization), (Self-)Honesty, Independence, Purposefulness, Integrity, Productiveness, Pride, Independence, Discipline, Principled Living.
Psychological: Self-Esteem (feeling competent to live life & worthy of happiness), little depression, ability to experience joy.
IQ & EQ: Improved Cognitive & Emotional Intelligence.

Plan B — Ultimately, what if we fail to prevent (clinical) death?

Cryonics — A safety-net of unknown fabric. What do we have to lose? Yes, it is highly experimental — but, would we rather be in the experimental group, or the control group? We know what happens to the control group. As, Cryonicists we at least have a chance, however remote, to be around 50, 100, or 1000 years from now. Some of us relish this prospect.

For the most comprehensive, yet enjoyable, exploration of cryonics issues — social, technical, psychological, political, financial, etc. — I can highly recommend James Halperin’s novel The First Immortal.

Plan X — Promoting and supporting rejuvenation technologies such as SENS which focus on repairing damage caused by aging, ultimately allowing us to reach escape velocity!

Reprinted with permission from the author.

Peter Voss is an entrepreneur, inventor, engineer, scientist and AI researcher. In 2001 he (co-) coined the term ‘AGI’ (Artificial General Intelligence), and has been working towards achieving high-level AI since then. He also has a keen interest in the inter-relationship between philosophy, psychology, ethics, futurism, and computer science, and frequently writes and talks on these topics.