Brian Johnson's Quest for Immortality: A Critical Analysis

Brian Johnson's quest for immortality reveals a deep fear of death and a troubling grift.

### The Illusion of Immortality: Brian Johnson's Quest for Eternal Life
* 🔮 Brian Johnson's pursuit of eternal life is viewed skeptically, with the assertion that "**he is not going to succeed**" according to longevity researchers.
* 💰 Critics argue that Johnson is a "**grifter**," profiting off people's **fear of death** while promoting an **unsustainable lifestyle**.
* 📖 A recent Time magazine article showcases Johnson's extreme regimen, which includes a **calorie-restricted vegan diet** and an unusual device to **measure his erections**, but lacks **scientific validation**.
* 🩺 Longevity experts have expressed concern about his health, noting he appeared **pale and lacked essential body fat**, which is **crucial for overall well-being**.
* 🍏 While calorie restriction has shown promise in **extending lifespans** in other species, its effects on humans remain uncertain and may lead to **malnourishment or eating disorders**.
* 📉 Despite advancements in health, researchers emphasize that the **maximum human lifespan has not improved significantly**, with the oldest verified human living to **122 years**.
* 🧠 Johnson's ventures, including a company aimed at **avoiding death**, reflect a **deep-seated fear of mortality**, potentially stemming from his upbringing in the **Mormon faith**.
* 🛌 Ultimately, the pursuit of immortality may distract from addressing broader health issues, as "**some men would rather wear a bedtime jetpack on their penis than go to therapy**."

Brian Johnson is going to die one day, don't worry, don't report me to YouTube. It's not a threat, I'm not going to contribute to that end in any way. I am merely making a prediction based upon statistics and I think it's important to

lead with that because all of the mainstream media coverage of this man leads with the fact that Brian Johnson thinks he's going to live forever and he's going above and beyond to increase his chances. I want to make it very clear that in my

opinion and in the opinion of scientists who researched longevity, he is not going to succeed. Furthermore, it is my personal opinion that Brian Johnson is a grifter who, regardless of whether or not he actually believes he's going to live forever, is absolutely trying to make a

quick buck off of people who are terrified of the idea of death and who have more money than common sense. Now this guy pops up in the news every now and again. The most recent example is this Time magazine article by Charlotte Alter, which is admittedly pretty

entertaining, it still gives him way more credit than he is due. But I have to admit I did chuckle at lines like 'he has the body of an 18-year-old and the face of someone who had spent millions attempting to look like an 18-year-old'

because yeah, you know, if you look at Johnson's Wiki photo and compare it to times it's, well, you know, he's made a choice and I support his ability to decide what to do with his own face, even if that means throwing it away and starting over again.

from scratch in the profile alter hangs out with Johnson for a few days to observe his routine, which includes eating a calorie-restricted vegan diet, taking 111 supplement pills every day, and wearing a tiny jet pack on his penis at night to measure his erections for

reasons. It nearly goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: there is no real scientific basis for Johnson's lifestyle. It actually may be actively bad for his health, and it sounds absolutely miserable. I particularly liked the detail alter includes from longevity researchers who met Johnson at

a conference. He looked sick. He was pale. I don't know what he did with his face, Dr. Barzillai says, adding that he was alarmed by Johnson's lack of fat, which plays an important role in the body. All these MDs, we all kind of agreed that he

didn't look so great. That said, I do want to point out that some of the things he's doing are probably beneficial if they were done in combination with an overall healthy lifestyle. Like, banning electronics from bed, that's a great idea. Electronics other than your nighttime

penis jet pack, of course, which all doctors agree everyone should have, regardless of whether you have a penis or not. He's also terrified of driving, which is pretty healthy. Cars are death machines, and if manufacturers installed a device that forced drivers to acknowledge that before the ignition

turns over, maybe paired with a breathalyzer, like that would probably save as many lives as the seat belt. Finally, uh, the calorie restriction. For decades now, that has been one of the most promising avenues of life extension in short-lived species. Drastically reducing calories down to what a rat or

Mice need food for basic survival. It reliably extends their lifespans by about 50 percent, and overall they're much healthier, which uh, you know, is because it seems to slow down certain biomarkers of aging. And in recent years, research has shown that these benefits

may extend to primates as well. For instance, in this study from 2018, lemurs who ate about 30 percent less than their friends lived about 50 percent longer and were healthier overall. However, they did see a reduction in gray matter, but there was no corresponding loss in

cognitive or behavioral abilities. So, you know, there might be a downside, but if you're just looking at extending lifespan, yeah, calorie restriction seems to work. Calorie restriction in humans has also shown promise, but we live so long that the researchers who study it are forced to just look at those

biomarkers I mentioned, which are a bit controversial, you know, they don't necessarily perfectly correlate to an increased maximum lifespan. So, we won't know for sure for like another 80 years or so, but those longevity researchers I quoted earlier have a point in that

having a little bit of fat on us may help humans survive certain age-related uh, diseases and injuries like falls. And, you know, then there's the issue of needing to pay such close attention to your diet that you're eating the right amount of calories but not ending up

malnourished. And then there's making sure that you're mentally healthy enough that you don't accidentally end up overly obsessed and having an eating disorder. I mean, if it's even possible not to. So, yeah, I'm definitely not recommending it, but I do want to

acknowledge that yeah as calorie restriction does have a basis in science as in terms of living a longer life I also want to call out another quote from the Time article where Dr. Pinchas Cohen dean of the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of

Southern California says death is not optional it's written into our genes that quote actually sent me on a side quest to see what the current consensus is on that and it is true but also I think it might be a little simplistic in there for um likely to be misunderstood so I just

want to share quickly what I learned here's an overview of the field from researchers at Dr. Barzilai's institution that's the guy who said that Johnson looked sickly at that aging conference this perspective which was published in Nature to educate those outside of the

discipline and it's available in full online as always you can find a link in the transcript link below it describes the evidence for a limit to human lifespan as overwhelming but notes that even if there were a genetic program a hard limit would not exist because

occasionally individuals would be born with mutations deactivating that program instead it seems like the limit is more statistical it's a soft limit that might occasionally be exceeded by random lucky people but eventually something's gonna get you thanks to aging a complicated

process which yes is mostly dictated by our genes that's why humans have made huge leaps in mean lifespan mostly thanks to stopping all those infants from dying but also due to upgrades in our diets and our sanitation but in all that time we've made zero progress on

improving maximum lifespan our oldest verified human was 122 when she died in 1997 and in the 26 years since then we haven't even come close to matching that despite huge improvements in the health of seniors and half a million centenarians currently alive in the

world today so mean lifespan we're doing a great job of improving it maximum hasn't budged for that reason the people who actually study aging and Longevity tend to not really consider it important or even scientifically interesting to try to extend our maximum lifespan to

try to achieve immortality it's such an improbable goal and additionally it would benefit pretty much no one because we still have so many people dying unnecessarily before they even hit the mean lifespan and so many more people who are living unnecessarily painful and

unhealthy lives even when they hit or exceed the mean lifespan that's why researchers have a term called Health span that's the amount of your life that you live that is healthy while maximum lifespan is practically immutable we can through research and public policy

improve mean lifespan and health span for the majority of humans living today and so isn't that where we should focus our energy Brian Johnson clearly disagrees and honestly I think I understand why like first yes there's the grift I mentioned earlier Johnson got his millions of

dollars because he founded Braintree a payment processor that he sold to PayPal in 2013 for 800 million dollars according to a 2017 article in MIT's Technology Review he asked hundreds of experts what to do with this windfall and their advice led him to investing in

neurotechnology creating the company Colonel with a hundred million dollars in seed money which he used to hire Dr. Theodore Berger, professor of biomedical engineering and Neuroscience and director of the center for neural engineering at the University of Southern California. Berger developed a memory prosthesis, but then left Colonel

just six months later because Berger's vision, according to several people, was too complex, too speculative, and too far from becoming a medical reality. While Johnson hoped to see a return on his investment sometime soon, they have a new direction, but we're still talking, says Berger. The basic reason is it was going

to take too long. It's one thing to think about this and quite another to do it. Johnson says he concluded that Berger's work is really interesting, but not an entry point into a commercially viable business. Now that's really weird because I recently heard that capitalists drive

scientific progress, huh? I guess that's another story. Anyway, digital brains weren't profitable enough, so Johnson has now pivoted to this new company that he calls Blueprint, which offers to build your autonomous self with an algorithm that takes better care of me than I can

myself. The starter kit is coming soon, but in the meanwhile, you can buy one and a half liters of olive oil for seventy-five dollars. It's sourced from both hemispheres to ensure freshness and abundant polyphenols, which studies show can potentially safeguard against

various cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and neurodegenerative conditions by reducing oxidized LDL. Oh, also it's peppery and smooth. Just as a heads up though, Costco has olive oil with the same number of polyphenols for 18.99. So, oh, and that's two liters. It's

actually more so yeah it's a grift anyway uh he wasn't seeing the immediate returns on computer brain interfaces and he didn't like the complicated gobbledygook from the scientists who actually studied these things so instead he decided to be Gwyneth Paltrow's bro and to

one up her instead of looking pretty or being healthy his promise is you get to live forever but I also want to say that in my opinion I think that this goes beyond just the grift for him both of his recent companies are focused in some

way on avoiding death you know Kernel was about maybe transferring our consciousness to the cloud Blueprint is about the physical body living forever one expert quoted in the Time article says if you want immortality you should go to a church and I think that that is

spot on um Johnson actually grew up as a Mormon and even went on a mission in Ecuador but he left the church pretty late you know when he was in his 30s and I think that that background has given him what appears to me to be an absolute

all-encompassing fear of death and I get that you know I was raised Baptist and I fully believed in it but I realized I was an atheist when I was 18. and I was absolutely horrified to realize that I was going to cease to

exist one day horrified and yeah you know people tried to tell me you know but you weren't worried about not existing before you were born and I'm like wow now I am thanks for giving me something new to freak out about but also that already happened

Um, this is going to happen, it's not the same. Uh, and I'm glad that some people are able to transition from assuming that they had uh a forever life, that they would go on into eternity with their loved ones forever. I'm glad that some

people were able to transition from thinking that, from knowing that, to then knowing that they would cease to exist one day and being okay with it. Like that speaks to your good mental health. I, I did not have that. I, I had to work really hard to uh process things, you know, to

work mentally, psychologically, philosophically on myself. The two things that really did it for me in the end, one was going on anti-anxiety medication so I could stop obsessing about things I can't control, and two, accepting that we are all star stuff, that we are the

universe learning about itself, that we all continue in an ever-changing and mysterious future existence, and that I, I as a person, as an individual, am ultimately not that important. Carl Sagan and the Buddhists basically helped me a lot, and modern medicine. But I think that

Johnson hasn't done that work yet. Like a lot of multi-millionaires and billionaires, you know, he is stuck on this egocentric desire to extend his own life as long as possible, even at the expense of making other people's lives better. And that's unhealthy for humanity

just as much as it's unhealthy for Johnson himself. I guess what I'm saying is that some men would rather wear a bedtime jetpack on their penis than go to therapy. [Music] Hey everybody, thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video, please give it a like

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Bryan Johnson is Going to Die (Sorry)

Rebecca Watson (Skepchick)

Introduction and Criticism of Brian Johnson's Longevity Pursuit

The speaker predicts Brian Johnson's eventual death, contrasting it with media portrayals of Johnson's pursuit of immortality.

The speaker expresses the opinion, shared by longevity researchers, that Johnson's efforts will be unsuccessful.

The speaker labels Johnson a 'grifter,' suggesting he exploits people's fear of death for financial gain.

The speaker references a Time magazine article, highlighting its entertaining yet overly positive portrayal of Johnson.

The speaker comments on Johnson's appearance, noting the discrepancy between his claimed age and his actual look.

Analysis of Johnson's Lifestyle and Scientific Validity

Johnson's routine includes a strict vegan diet, numerous supplements, and unusual practices like a penis jetpack.

Longevity researchers observed Johnson appearing unwell and alarmingly thin at a conference.

Some aspects of Johnson's lifestyle, like avoiding electronics before bed and avoiding driving, are acknowledged as potentially beneficial.

Calorie restriction's effectiveness in extending lifespan in short-lived species is discussed, along with its potential benefits and drawbacks in humans.

The speaker notes the complexities and uncertainties surrounding calorie restriction in humans and its long-term effects.

Discussion on the Limits of Human Lifespan

A quote about death being unavoidable is examined, leading to a discussion of the scientific consensus on lifespan limits.

The speaker summarizes research suggesting that while there's a statistical limit to human lifespan, it's not an absolute, hard limit.

Significant progress has been made in increasing average lifespan, but maximum lifespan remains largely unchanged.

Researchers prioritize improving healthspan and average lifespan over focusing on extending maximum lifespan.

The concept of healthspan is introduced, emphasizing the importance of healthy living over simply extending lifespan.

Analysis of Johnson's Business Ventures and Motivations

Johnson's wealth from Braintree and subsequent investments in neurotechnology are discussed.

Johnson's company Kernel, focused on neurotechnology, is mentioned, along with its challenges and eventual shift in direction.

The speaker questions the capitalist narrative of driving scientific progress in the context of Johnson's business decisions.

Johnson's new company, Blueprint, and its marketing of olive oil are presented as potentially exploitative.

The speaker suggests Johnson's motivations extend beyond mere financial gain, driven by a deep-seated fear of death.

Personal Reflection on Death and Mental Health

The speaker shares their personal experience of grappling with the concept of mortality and their path towards acceptance.

The speaker contrasts their own journey of accepting mortality with Johnson's apparent avoidance of confronting his fear of death.

The speaker discusses the coping mechanisms they used to process their fear of death, including medication and philosophical shifts.

The speaker contrasts their own approach to mortality with Johnson's, highlighting the latter's egocentric focus on self-preservation.

The speaker concludes by criticizing Johnson's approach as unhealthy for both himself and humanity.