Is biohacking the Botox of the soul? It’s easy to make fun of all these wealthy tech dudes who’ve propelled the biohacking craze. Isn’t it interesting that Bryan Johnson, Peter Attia, Dave Asprey, Tim Ferriss and Andrew Huberman are all chronologically-suited to be experiencing their midlife crisis (okay, yes, chrysalis!)? They’re all within two years of 50, 48 to 52. And, Peter Thiel (also in his 50s) funded the Enhanced Games (here’s a Wired article about this competition called the “Steroid Olympics” – although let’s be clear that steroids are not on most men’s longevity shopping list).
They’re on to something…or on something, probably a supplement. I credit these guys for making longevity cool. When we started MEA seven and a half years ago, longevity wasn’t getting anything like the attention it’s getting today. It makes sense with aging Boomers, curious GenXers, and tech-forward Millennials, reality is starting to mirror science fiction. Gene editing, cellular reprogramming, and AI-driven health diagnostics make it feel like age reversal could actually happen. Longevity appeals to the modern longing for control, agency, and mastery over our fate. And, haven’t men always been obsessed with the length of things? Except for when they’re coming out of a cold plunge….
Forget the convertible Porsche, these guys are chasing the life force. Instead of a red Mazda, it’s the red-light sauna. The convertible is still here, but it’s electric and has a meditation app built into the dashboard. Okay, enough of the snark, Chip.
Biohacking isn’t just about health. It’s really about hope. The hope that we might find a new version of ourselves just on the other side of all this turmeric and tech. That there’s still a path to vitality, energy—hotness even. That we can trick the system, somehow avoid surrendering to the slow decline of aging—and worse—relevance. I get it.
But, just like everything else in midlife, I’ll have a little moderation with my biohacking cocktail. Let’s face it, when obsessive biohacking becomes self-loathing “biohating,” we’ve just created a new form of internal ageism.
-Chip