Which category are you in? - Aubrey de Grey on our attitude toward aging
In a passionate post on X, the well-known biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey questions our attitude toward aging and why so many people do nothing about it. He argues that we rely on irrational thought patterns and deceptive majority opinions instead of actively investing in the medical defeat of aging.
I'm overdue for a rant. Here goes.
If you don't want to get sick when you get old, but you're not allocating your time or money to hastening the medical defeat of aging, you're in one of the following categories:
1) You think aging is a blessing in disguise
2) You're sure we will defeat aging in time for you, even though you know that plenty of experts say we won't, and you don't much care about people older than you
3) You're sure we won't defeat aging in time for you, even though you know that plenty of experts say we will, and you don't much care about people younger than you
4) You know you're behaving irrationally but you can't help yourself
Which are you? Have you been avoiding asking yourself that question?
If, on the other hand, you ARE allocating your time or money to hastening the medical defeat of aging, then you've made a decision regarding HOW to allocate it. In order to do that, you've decided whom to trust in getting the information leading to your decision. How did you identify and factor out any biases in what they told you?
Most people, including (especially?) most wealthy people, think they don't need help to factor out other people's biases. But everyone does, because some of the reasons for those biases are not at all obvious unless you're in the same business yourself. In particular, when a view is stated by the majority of experts in a field, that may be because it's correct, but it may be because they benefit from each other's approval in ways that you have overlooked.
Link to the post: https://x.com/aubreydegrey/status/1876346675444257229