Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/5203
ai Bio enhanceD nano neuro humor ForeVer young 22 winter 2009 ForeVer young Despite the apparent odds against outliving the oldest documented person, most transhumanists I know expect to live to 150. Just last night, Eric Gradman, a computer scientist who does circus acts and fire-twirling, told me, "I will live to 100, worst case, but intend to live until 250." Prof. Gregory Benford, chairman and co-founder of longevity supplement company Genescient (featured in my Forever Young column in h+ issue #3), stands firm on his claim that he can tell me, at age 47, how to live until 150. I've known Greg for over 10 years, and he's never been wrong, so I choose to believe him. However, if 150, instead of 75, is the new span of life, then we need to get through the toughest rite of passage. The Massai boys of Kenya had to face a lion to become men, and the Spartan boys had to face a wolf. We who would double our life-spans have to survive a similar trial — facing down our own cells, preventing them from becoming excessively feral and fertile through what I will call "new adolescence." We face this passage during that period from the mid-40s to the mid-60s when we are most likely to get cancer. There's bad news and good news. The bad news is that cancer accounts for 23-25% of all deaths in the uS (vs. about 26% for heart disease, the #1 cause) and will kill 292,540 men and 269,800 women in 2009, according to the American Cancer Society. The good news is that if you can survive "new adolescence" without dying of cancer, you are less likely to die of cancer with each year that you add. A study of centenarians revealed that fewer than 4% died of cancer. The other good news is that if you are reading this magazine, which probably requires a higher education and IQ level than just about any other magazine in Barnes & Noble, you have the ultimate cancer fighters: curiosity and ability to process complex and weird information. Cancer is basically what happens when your cells are copied with errors before they can get repaired — and then they grow out of control. As a smart person, you can employ useful information to reprogram yourself. I'm not a doctor, and I'm not giving health advice, so follow these eight New Rules at your own risk. On the other hand, most people are aware that they need to look out for themselves. FOreVer yOUnG: i'm serious as cancer 8 new rules are life enhancers AlEX lIGHTMAN I'm writing the Forever young columns for transhumanists who want to live longer than the longest-lived human to date. Frenchwoman Jeanne calment was born in 1875 and died in 1997 at the "old age" of 122 years and 164 days. IMAgES COURTESy Of ISTOCk