Welcome

Over the course of several months we met, interviewed, and requested feedback from some of the top minds in the longevity field, to craft as good a “pitch” as possible. There ideas were so diverse and valuable that we created a n interactive repository with most of them to help more people see the importance of the longevity movement. The result is a sort of build-your-own pitch experience where you can pick and choose individual “assets” (ideas) for each relevant category. Everything is clickable.

This is a work in progress and is free to use. We will be updating and improving this living site. Please reach out with any suggestions or edits and let us know which arguments, storylines, or analogies resonate the most.

Let's cure aging or die trying!

Why is Aging a Problem?

In our conversations, we’ve seen that many people don’t even conceive of aging as a problem. These are various of the strongest arguments as to why aging is indeed a problem.

Medicine

Longevity is actually the best way to approach medicine.

The whole premises of medicine writ large in a way is to help people live longer. Treating aging is just a better way of treating diseases.

Suffering

Aging is arguably the largest driver of human suffering in the world. Aging kills 100,000 people per day; more than twice the sum of all other causes of death. It affects everyone in due time, breaks families apart, and even before it leads to death, it diminishes many of life’s most enjoyable experiences.

Economics

The US spends about 20% of its GDP in healthcare costs. Of that, about 90% is spent on people who have chronic conditions. This amount to well over $3.5 Trillion dollars every year. An inoordinate amount of that is spent in the last 5 years of life. Not only are these the most painful years for individuals and families, they are also the most expensive. Dealying the onset of chronic disease and preventing whenever possible, is the best path forward.

Demographics

The problem of aging will only grow in years to come. Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years will nearly double from 12% to 22%. If we don’t treat aging or find a way to prevent chronic diseases as much as possible, healthcare costs will continue to skyrocket unsustainably. Not only does solving aging help reduce costs, but it will also add trillions of dollars in extra productive years.

Why is Aging a Problem?

In our conversations, we’ve seen that many people don’t even conceive of aging as a problem. These are various of the strongest arguments as to why aging is indeed a problem.

Medicine

Longevity is actually the best way to approach medicine.

The whole premises of medicine writ large in a way is to help people live longer. Treating aging is just a better way of treating diseases.

Suffering

Aging is arguably the largest driver of human suffering in the world. Aging kills 100,000 people per day; more than twice the sum of all other causes of death. It affects everyone in due time, breaks families apart, and even before it leads to death, it diminishes many of life’s most enjoyable experiences.

Economics

The US spends about 20% of its GDP in healthcare costs. Of that, about 90% is spent on people who have chronic conditions. This amount to well over $3.5 Trillion dollars every year. An inoordinate amount of that is spent in the last 5 years of life. Not only are these the most painful years for individuals and families, they are also the most expensive. Dealying the onset of chronic disease and preventing whenever possible, is the best path forward.

Demographics

The problem of aging will only grow in years to come. Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years will nearly double from 12% to 22%. If we don’t treat aging or find a way to prevent chronic diseases as much as possible, healthcare costs will continue to skyrocket unsustainably. Not only does solving aging help reduce costs, but it will also add trillions of dollars in extra productive years.

Underfunded

As important as aging and longevity research are, this is currently a severely underfunded area

The "yes" method

The “yes” method provides a seamless cognitive process that opens your mind up to possibilities that it otherwise would not have been willing to consider. We apply it here to longevity.

Medicine Argument

Do you think medicine is important? [Yes]. Do you think that advancements in chemotherapy and heart surgery are good? [Yes]. Do you think that new treatments for Alzheimer’s are good? [Yes]. Then you likely agree that delaying aging and its diseases is important

Chronic Diseases

Is a chronic disease like cancer bad? [Yes]. Is Alzheimer’s bad? [Yes]. Is diabetes bad? [Yes]. Is cradiovascular disease bad? [Yes]. Then why is aging not a problem for you?

Living longer, better

Do you think living a healthy life and doing things you enjoy doing are important? [Yes]. Do you think that spending time with the people you love is important? [Yes]. Then why not delay aging as much as possible?

Emotional Arguments

Arguments that primarily appeal to emotion. Pathos.

Someone they care about

During our research, we saw that many people responded positively when making it about someone else they care about, not necessary themselves. For example, if you ask someone if they want their children or spouse to live a long life, they almost always say yes. This is particularly true when asking about their children or their parents. However, if you ask if they would like to live a long life, they sometimes don’t want to.

Life Enthusiasts

This concept boils down to reminding people of the things they love doing and the people they love spending time with.
Would you not want to age less and ___ski/ travel / dance____ more?

2nd Life

Courtesy of Laura Deming, the concept of the 2nd life also deeply resonates with people. It comes from the idea that beating aging will give us and our parents the
ability to get more out of life. Instead of simply retiring, a longer, healthier life will give us the opportunity to continue exploring our curiosities and potentially
even have a 2nd career.

Emotional Arguments

Arguments that primarily appeal to emotion. Pathos.

Someone they care about

During our research, we saw that many people responded positively when making it about someone else they care about, not necessary themselves. For example, if you ask someone if they want their children or spouse to live a long life, they almost always say yes. This is particularly true when asking about their children or their parents. However, if you ask if they would like to live a long life, they sometimes don’t want to.

Life Enthusiasts

This concept boils down to reminding people of the things they love doing and the people they love spending time with.
Would you not want to age less and ___ski/ travel / dance____ more?

2nd Life

Courtesy of Laura Deming, the concept of the 2nd life also deeply resonates with people. It comes from the idea that beating aging will give us and our parents the
ability to get more out of life. Instead of simply retiring, a longer, healthier life will give us the opportunity to continue exploring our curiosities and potentially
even have a 2nd career.

Myths and Misconceptions

Dispel myths and address concerns

Death is Inevitable

If this assumption were true, it would also apply to many other commonplace things and situations that we wouldn’t ever dream of considering pointless: if death is inevitable, why get a flu shot? If death is inevitable, why undergo heart surgery? If death is inevitable, why looking before crossing the street? If death is inevitable, why eat? And so on. Even if death is inevitable, that is no reason not to develop life extension technology.

The answer to all these questions is the same: for as long as we’re going to be alive, we’d like to make our lives as enjoyable as possible; and not only do all those things improve the quality of our lives, they make our lives last longer than they would otherwise. Maybe it won’t last forever, but a longer, more enjoyable life seems preferable to a shorter, more unpleasant life. As an extreme example, if improving and extending a finite life is pointless, then since the universe seems doomed to die in one way or another,perpetuating the human race and improving the lives of its members is also pointless, which would be a seriously pessimistic outlook on life.

Overpopulation

Myth: As people extend their healthy lifespans, our world will become too overpopulated.

Fact: Let’s apply this logic to cancer: no one is delaying the search for a cure from fear of overpopulation. When we treat aging similarly as a disease, this assumption becomes more myth than fact. Just as curing cancer will not end death, neither will slowing aging.

Only the Rich

The underlying assumption of this argument is that rejuvenation therapies would be so expensive that only rich people would be able to afford them, thus fracturing the world into ever-young, ever-healthy rich people and poor, sick, old people with no access to these technologies. It is very likely that rejuvenation therapies will be quite expensive (at least initially) due to multiple factors.

However, rejuvenation biotechnologies are life-saving medical treatments that are meant to prevent age-related diseases and allow people to maintain good health throughout their lives. In this sense, they are no different from antiviral or cancer therapies, which are currently prescribed and administered by doctors in appropriate healthcare facilities. So, just the same as any other life-saving treatments, the price is irrelevant in the face of the benefits that they would confer to us, and it is certainly not a valid reason not to develop them.
However, even if we can initially assume a high cost for rejuvenation.

biotechnologies, we need to keep in mind that new technologies generally start off as very expensive and eventually become affordable and widespread. For instance, it took only 15 years for a full genome sequencing cost to drop from $100 million to $300, making this particular kind of personalized medicine a potential global reality.

Genetics

Myth: Genetics largely control my health,so why should I try so hard?
Fact: Our genetics only influence about 20-30% of our overall longevity. Just like exercising, we won’t see results by sitting back and letting our genetics do the job for us: we must take an active role in improving our health span with diet, exercise, and treatments.

Frailty

Myth: Living longer just means being frail for longer.
Fact: While we want you to enjoy as many years as possible, our goal is also to increase your health span, which means giving you more healthy years, and thus better quality of life. Longevity is actually a side effect of this increased health span.

Myths and Misconceptions

Dispel myths and address concerns

Death is Inevitable

If this assumption were true, it would also apply to many other commonplace things and situations that we wouldn’t ever dream of considering pointless: if death is inevitable, why get a flu shot? If death is inevitable, why undergo heart surgery? If death is inevitable, why looking before crossing the street? If death is inevitable, why eat? And so on. Even if death is inevitable, that is no reason not to develop life extension technology.

The answer to all these questions is the same: for as long as we’re going to be alive, we’d like to make our lives as enjoyable as possible; and not only do all those things improve the quality of our lives, they make our lives last longer than they would otherwise. Maybe it won’t last forever, but a longer, more enjoyable life seems preferable to a shorter, more unpleasant life. As an extreme example, if improving and extending a finite life is pointless, then since the universe seems doomed to die in one way or another,perpetuating the human race and improving the lives of its members is also pointless, which would be a seriously pessimistic outlook on life.

Overpopulation

Myth: As people extend their healthy lifespans, our world will become too overpopulated.

Fact: Let’s apply this logic to cancer: no one is delaying the search for a cure from fear of overpopulation. When we treat aging similarly as a disease, this assumption becomes more myth than fact. Just as curing cancer will not end death, neither will slowing aging.

Only the Rich

The underlying assumption of this argument is that rejuvenation therapies would be so expensive that only rich people would be able to afford them, thus fracturing the world into ever-young, ever-healthy rich people and poor, sick, old people with no access to these technologies. It is very likely that rejuvenation therapies will be quite expensive (at least initially) due to multiple factors.

However, rejuvenation biotechnologies are life-saving medical treatments that are meant to prevent age-related diseases and allow people to maintain good health throughout their lives. In this sense, they are no different from antiviral or cancer therapies, which are currently prescribed and administered by doctors in appropriate healthcare facilities. So, just the same as any other life-saving treatments, the price is irrelevant in the face of the benefits that they would confer to us, and it is certainly not a valid reason not to develop them.
However, even if we can initially assume a high cost for rejuvenation.

biotechnologies, we need to keep in mind that new technologies generally start off as very expensive and eventually become affordable and widespread. For instance, it took only 15 years for a full genome sequencing cost to drop from $100 million to $300, making this particular kind of personalized medicine a potential global reality.

Genetics

Myth: Genetics largely control my health,so why should I try so hard?
Fact: Our genetics only influence about 20-30% of our overall longevity. Just like exercising, we won’t see results by sitting back and letting our genetics do the job for us: we must take an active role in improving our health span with diet, exercise, and treatments.

Frailty

Myth: Living longer just means being frail for longer.
Fact: While we want you to enjoy as many years as possible, our goal is also to increase your health span, which means giving you more healthy years, and thus better quality of life. Longevity is actually a side effect of this increased health span.

Thought-provoking Analogies

Analogies to help expose reasoning inconsistencies.

Dog Longevity

When you ask a person: “do you you want to live longer?” 9 out of 10 say “No”. When you say “would you like your dog to live longer?” 10 out of 10 say “YES.”

Progeria

Progeria is a genetic disease that leads to extreme premature aging. People with progeria look old by the time they are teens. Most people would love to have a
cure for it. It is interesting that there is widespread agreement that being old by the time you are 12 is too fast, but being old by the time you are 75 is just right. Who decided that?

Lifespan vs Healthspan

Everyone says they want to live longer only if they are healthy. In practice, however, when Covid epidemic was raging we were saying “save grandma” we didn’t say “only
save healthy grandma, and extend her healthspan.” We said save all elderly and extend their lifespan even if their
healthspan is gone.

Fable of Dragon-Tyrant

–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZYNADOHhVY&ab_channel=CGPGrey

Longevity Not being Normal/Natural

When people say that longevity is not natural or normal, we should point out that chemotherapy, or heart surgery, are also not natural or normal; yet, we all are grateful for them and celebrate when there are further advancements in these fields.

Wishes

One of the most wishes for holidays is:
“wishing you lots of health and many more.” This is the same as wishing you slower aging.

Thought-provoking Analogies

Analogies to help expose reasoning inconsistencies.

Dog Longevity

When you ask a person: “do you you want to live longer?” 9 out of 10 say “No”. When you say “would you like your dog to live longer?” 10 out of 10 say “YES.”

Progeria

Progeria is a genetic disease that leads to extreme premature aging. People with progeria look old by the time they are teens. Most people would love to have a
cure for it. It is interesting that there is widespread agreement that being old by the time you are 12 is too fast, but being old by the time you are 75 is just right. Who decided that?

Lifespan vs Healthspan

Everyone says they want to live longer only if they are healthy. In practice, however, when Covid epidemic was raging we were saying “save grandma” we didn’t say “only
save healthy grandma, and extend her healthspan.” We said save all elderly and extend their lifespan even if their
healthspan is gone.

Fable of Dragon-Tyrant

–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZYNADOHhVY&ab_channel=CGPGrey

Longevity Not being Normal/Natural

When people say that longevity is not natural or normal, we should point out that chemotherapy, or heart surgery, are also not natural or normal; yet, we all are grateful for them and celebrate when there are further advancements in these fields.

Wishes

One of the most wishes for holidays is:
“wishing you lots of health and many more.” This is the same as wishing you slower aging.

Credibility and Celebrity References

For those that are new to the field, we list some of the leading institutions and individuals working on Longevity. Also some pop culture references of Longevity advocates.

Research Spotlight

David Sinclair, current Harvard Medical School Professor.
Matt Kaeberlein, professor and researcher at University of Washington.
Long list of credible institutions doing longevity research: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, UCSF, Salk Institute, Buck Institute, etc.
Many recent studies from Nature/Science, which are prestigious, peer-reviewed journals.

Celebrities

Jennifer Anniston
Chris Hemsworth
Brian Armostrong
Jeff Bezos

Credibility and Celebrity References

For those that are new to the field, we list some of the leading institutions and individuals working on Longevity. Also some pop culture references of Longevity advocates.

Research Spotlight

David Sinclair, current Harvard Medical School Professor.
Matt Kaeberlein, professor and researcher at University of Washington.
Long list of credible institutions doing longevity research: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, UCSF, Salk Institute, Buck Institute, etc.
Many recent studies from Nature/Science, which are prestigious, peer-reviewed journals.

Celebrities

Jennifer Anniston
Chris Hemsworth
Brian Armostrong
Jeff Bezos

Assortment of Resources and Additional Arguments

Analogies to help expose reasoning inconsistencies.

Podcasts

David Sincalir’s Lifespan 
Peter Attia’s The Drive
Longevity Biotech Show
VitaDAO Podcast
Translating Aging
Longevity By Design

Therapies / Feasibility

There are many therapies that have shown to extend lifespan in multiple species. Many of these are being studied clinically in humans already. Some currently-used drugs like Rapamycin (given to organ transplantpatients), Metformin (for treatment of diabetes), and Acarbose (for diabetes as well) are being repurposed to study potential life-extending benefits in humans. Expectations for Rapamycin in particular are very high. Additionally, there are many companies focused on stem cell therapy, gene therapy, and gene reprogramming. Senolytics, to combat senescent/”zombie” cells are also a promising new avenue. Lastly, dietary changes, and exercise in particular are widespread powerful levers we can use
to extend healthspan.

Positives Of Aging

We are not anti-aging; we want to keep the good and minimize the bad as much as possible.
1. Widom 2. Contentment 3. Experience
It is very unfortunate that we lose all of those when one ages and passes away.

Info In Excel File

If you want all of this informaiton in an
Excel file, you can access it here:

https://1drv.ms/x/s! AuDy plskzv9gsssee7OeMwkj104Jg?e=6frYaQ

Assortment of Resources and Additional Arguments

For those that are new to the field, we list some of the leading institutions and individuals working on Longevity. Also some pop culture references of Longevity advocates.

Podcasts

David Sincalir’s Lifespan 
Peter Attia’s The Drive
Longevity Biotech Show
VitaDAO Podcast
Translating Aging
Longevity By Design

Therapies / Feasibility

There are many therapies that have shown to extend lifespan in multiple species. Many of these are being studied clinically in humans already. Some currently-used drugs like Rapamycin (given to organ transplantpatients), Metformin (for treatment of diabetes), and Acarbose (for diabetes as well) are being repurposed to study potential life-extending benefits in humans. Expectations for Rapamycin in particular are very high. Additionally, there are many companies focused on stem cell therapy, gene therapy, and gene reprogramming. Senolytics, to combat senescent/”zombie” cells are also a promising new avenue. Lastly, dietary changes, and exercise in particular are widespread powerful levers we can use
to extend healthspan.

Positives Of Aging

We are not anti-aging; we want to keep the good and minimize the bad as much as possible.
1. Widom 2. Contentment 3. Experience
It is very unfortunate that we lose all of those when one ages and passes away.

Info In Excel File

If you want all of this informaiton in an
Excel file, you can access it here:

https://1drv.ms/x/s! AuDy plskzv9gsssee7OeMwkj104Jg?e=6frYaQ

Longevity Pitches From Leaders in the Field

Analogies to help expose reasoning inconsistencies.

Keith Comito

Beating aging is an imperative both for humanitarian and socioeconomic reasons.

Nathan Cheng

Aging is an enormous problem that is not receiving the necessary attention. Let’s do something about it.

Sebastian Brunemmeier

Aging is the way to treat diseases. The whole premises of medicine writ large in away is to help people live longer. Aging/ longevity is just a better way of treating diseases. Longevity is not the goal per se, but it is a side effect of this.

Laura Deming

“Beating aging will give us and our parents the ability to get more out of life. Our parents give everything for us. When
we are young and studying, we have a whole life ahead, and a world of possibilities. However, as we grow and realize that potential, do we want our parents to ‘sit’ on timeout? Imagine if they had an extra 20-30 years. It could be their “2nd life.”

Daniel Ives

Aging is the point of maximum leverage to
increase health.

Aubrey De Grey

“So the only reason that people have this confusion about this question and the time they will ask about it is because they’re starting out with an incoherent idea of what aging is. Nobody would ask that can, you’d have to ask where the word aging was replaced by the word Alzheimer’s disease. Right. Okay. So what’s the difference because the question, what is the
difference? People have in their heads this bizarre idea that there’s this thing called aging itself that is somehow completely distinct from all of the clearly undesirable diseases about age like Alzheimer’s or cancer or atherosclerosis or whatever.

But that’s nonsense. There is absolutely no biological basis for that concept. The only thing that distinguishes the things that we bracket and aging itself from the things that we bracket under the diseases of old age, is that we haven’t chosen to give disease-like names to the category. That’s all it is. It’s purely semantic. These things are definitely bad for us. They definitely
diminish, uh, You know, physical and mental performance and they eventually contribute to making us die”

Yuri Deigin

The purpose of all medicine is life extension

Coming soon

Longevity Pitches From Leaders in the Field

For those that are new to the field, we list some of the leading institutions and individuals working on Longevity. Also some pop culture references of Longevity advocates.

Keith Comito

Beating aging is an imperative both for humanitarian and socioeconomic reasons.

Nathan Cheng

Aging is an enormous problem that is not receiving the necessary attention. Let’s do something about it.

Sebastian Brunemmeier

Aging is the way to treat diseases. The whole premises of medicine writ large in away is to help people live longer. Aging/ longevity is just a better way of treating diseases. Longevity is not the goal per se, but it is a side effect of this.

Laura Deming

“Beating aging will give us and our parents the ability to get more out of life. Our parents give everything for us. When
we are young and studying, we have a whole life ahead, and a world of possibilities. However, as we grow and realize that potential, do we want our parents to ‘sit’ on timeout? Imagine if they had an extra 20-30 years. It could be their “2nd life.”

Daniel Ives

Aging is the point of maximum leverage to
increase health.

Aubrey De Grey

“So the only reason that people have this confusion about this question and the time they will ask about it is because they’re starting out with an incoherent idea of what aging is. Nobody would ask that can, you’d have to ask where the word aging was replaced by the word Alzheimer’s disease. Right. Okay. So what’s the difference because the question, what is the
difference? People have in their heads this bizarre idea that there’s this thing called aging itself that is somehow completely distinct from all of the clearly undesirable diseases about age like Alzheimer’s or cancer or atherosclerosis or whatever.

But that’s nonsense. There is absolutely no biological basis for that concept. The only thing that distinguishes the things that we bracket and aging itself from the things that we bracket under the diseases of old age, is that we haven’t chosen to give disease-like names to the category. That’s all it is. It’s purely semantic. These things are definitely bad for us. They definitely
diminish, uh, You know, physical and mental performance and they eventually contribute to making us die”

Yuri Deigin

The purpose of all medicine is life extension

Coming soon

Credibility and Celebrity References

For those that are new to the field, we list some of the leading institutions and individuals working on Longevity. Also some pop culture references of Longevity advocates.

Research Spotlight

David Sinclair, current Harvard Medical School Professor.
Matt Kaeberlein, professor and researcher at University of Washington.
Long list of credible institutions doing longevity research: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, UCSF, Salk Institute, Buck Institute, etc.
Many recent studies from Nature/Science, which are prestigious, peer-reviewed journals.

Celebrities

Jennifer Anniston
Chris Hemsworth
Brian Armostrong
Jeff Bezos

Reference And Special Thanks!

For those that are new to the field, we list some of the leading institutions and individuals working on Longevity. Also some pop culture references of Longevity advocates.

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