Averting the annihilation of humanity 🎙️ with Dr. Jeffrey Gladden by @jeroseland on 3Speak
▶️ Watch on 3Speak --- Codex Immortalis Aspirantis is a Latin phrase that means: "The Code of the Aspirational Immortal." You can think of it as a Biohacker twist on a phrase and concept I love, "n...
Tags: #interview #longevity #health
Codex Immortalis Aspirantus is a Latin phrase I invented, which means the code of the aspirational immortal. You can think of it as a biohacker twist on a phrase and concept that I love, noblesobliges, the obligation of nobility. The idea that privilege entails a great and weighty responsibility. Responsibility to edify not just yourself, but society. Responsibility to influence. Responsibility to be a rudder when those you love endure the storms of life. Responsibility to not just leave a legacy, but to be around to maintain its foundation. Dear listener, you may be falling short of this. And here's why. If you're into biohacking and anti-aging, you're an aspirational immortal. But I challenge that the scope of your ambition might not match the potency of your aspirations. Your aims should include goals measured not just in months, years, and decades, but also centuries. This is a call to action to start thinking a lot bigger. As a person who aspires to live as long as you want in brilliant health, you're probably underestimating what you might accomplish in your life. And today I'm joined by a man that this should resonate with. I'm joined by Dr. Jeffrey Gladden, a board-certified cardiologist and longevity pioneer who has dedicated his career to cracking the code of age reversal, moving beyond mere health care into the realm of human performance. He's the author of a new book. 100 is the new 30. And later in this interview, I'm going to press him a little on this title. Some, is it mere puffery, which is to say a marketing claim that no reasonable person would take seriously? Also, he operates Gladden Longevity, which is a boutique anti-aging clinic that is very much on the cutting edge of applied biohacking. I'm Jonathan with Limitless, Dr. Gladden. Welcome. Hey, Jonathan. Thank you. It's good to be here. First question. I'm going to give you a hypothetical. So... There's a shadowy investment group that offers to invest billions into Gladden longevity, all the money in the world to where cost money would never be an impediment to progress in your mission. And so you entertained the offer. And this shadowy investment group, they say, hey, come and beat us at, like, an opulent villa. or a yacht. And so you go there, they have a limo pick you up at the airport, and you go and meet them, and these investors are a surprisingly youthful-looking group. And then they reveal something unexpected. They aren't just investors. They are immortal vampires. And these vampires, they believe that your work, especially around... telomeres could expose their vampire biomarkers, which they don't want, because they've been living alongside humanity in the shadows since time immemorial. And that's the status quo masquerade, as they call it, that they want to maintain. So they make you an offer. Take the money. and suppress longevity research. They could lead to the public revelation of their existence, and instead of, like, democratizing longevity tools, increase your prices dramatically. They don't want you selling longevity to the public on your website. They want you to sell it exclusively to multi-millionaires and billionaires in the orbit of their... influence. And these vampires, they offer you a fang to the neck. They can make you a vampire, and you could live for centuries, or millennia, like them. And if you refuse, they won't harm you physically, but they tell you, look, we are very skilled at running... sophisticated propaganda operations. And with our propaganda operations, we could destroy your reputation, and we could discredit the entire field of longevity research that you've contributed to. But they don't just make threats. They also make the argument that mass longevity would destabilize society because of... overpopulation, resource strain, the undermining of cultural cohesion that comes from beliefs systems contingent on the consensus of the inevitability of death. And they reveal that for the past centuries, they have been shepherding humanity out of the darker impulses of our evolutionary psychology. And they argue that in... Just a few centuries, humanity will be ready to live lives stretching into the three-figure range. But not now, and that's why they want to pay you billions. And they say to you, longevity is for the few, not the many, as they raise a crystal champagne flute, a blood to their lips. So the question with that rather cinematic scene that I painted, the question is, would you accept? the vampires deal. What does the Codex Immortalis Esperantus require in that situation? Would it be loyalty to the truth and humanity or strategic compromise to preserve progress on your work? Yeah, well, interesting construct. It covers a number of different things. I think the way that I think about it, is that, you know, we frame up longevity. The book is 100 is a new 30, right? So the idea is when we're 100 years older beyond, that we have a very youthful body. That's the concept. But the other concept that's written about extensively in the book is actually developing a 300 slash 3,000 slash maybe 3 million-year -old mind, right? And the reason I talk about that, is because I think longevity represents the greatest opportunity humanity has ever had to really level up what it is to be human. So I love your admonition for people to think beyond just themselves as they're going down the longevity germ. How do they actually, from a noble place, how do they actually help others accomplish similar goals? And so being a human and not a vampire, My mission here is actually to democratize longevity. And the thing about that is it's not just about helping people live longer so they can, you know, play more tennis or golf or whatever. It's really about elevating the mind and the spirit in a way that people have much more equanimity, they have much more perspective, much more wisdom. much more love and caring for each other. And they move beyond some of the binary thought processes that seem to lead to lots of conflict around the globe, whether it's in a family, in a marriage, between countries. So there's, for me, the real passion that I have is money is, you know, money is just a resource, right? There's plenty of resources in the world. So being offered, you know, a big pool of a resource is not particularly attractive, right? What's much more interesting is to actually create a movement around transforming the planet so that every living creature on the planet benefits from human longevity, because people become more wise, more caretaking, more loving, there's less conflict, and we're more responsible towards the planet and each other. To me, that goal and that aspiration, dwarfs anything related to either my own, you know, quote-unquote immortality as a vampire or a pool of resources, which quite honestly we all have access to all the resources we need anyway. So I don't find it very appealing. The discrediting element, you know, is interesting, so you've kind of painted this scenario with a carrot and a stick, so to speak, but... you know, they're always going to be naysayers, and so, you know, I wouldn't be dissuaded by that either. And I don't think I'm on a chaotic, you know, mission here either. That's not the point. I really do believe that we are going to be able to crack the code on aging, and that we will be able to democratize it to the extent that people want to participate in. Obviously, it's a personal choice. But I think that we can... we can actually crack the code leveraging lots of AI, probably some of the quantum AI things coming, optimization of systems, you know, this is what quantum AI does exceptionally well. And so I don't think we're that far away from actually being able to crack the code. When you think about AI in general, I think with all the jobs that could be displaced by it, I think there's going to be a crisis of meaning. I think there could be a crisis of meaning for people because a lot of meaning comes from the work that people do. And I think if that's the case, then this idea of developing not only physical health, but also emotional, mental, and spiritual health becomes even more critical as we transition. Humanity is transitioning, right? The globe is transitioning. AIs is transitioning us. And it's interesting, there's an interesting, hypothesis that two years after people discover radio waves or any cultures, any civilization on any planet discovers radio waves, they have 200 years before they self-destruct. And we're, you know, radio waves were discovered in 1895, so right about there. So, you know, you could think about, you know, what is the responsibility we have? How do we make wise decisions with regards to these new technologies that we're developing? How do we not? end up blowing ourselves up. So this is why I think the 300 slash 3,000-year-old mind is so critical, too. Talking about these Methuselah-like lifespans, a major crisis that people are going to hear more and more and more about as time goes on is the fertility, the fertility crisis. We, um, All over the world, we are soon, more and more of us are going to have the experience of living in something akin to a Japanese village where there just aren't enough babies and children to keep society going. So, do you see longevity, do you see longevity, like, do you see longevity, like, do you see longevity, fixing, working on? working on that problem as well, do you see the kind of longevity tools that work on telomeres or boosting NAD? Are these the kinds of things that are going to, like, enable societies to stay above that population replacement number? Well, it's an interesting question, right? So if you have fewer babies, but older people are youthful and then you don't have the detriment in... population right. But at some point, you're going to need to, you know, all biology needs to replenish itself. And so you are going to need to have children coming into play. There was an interesting postula that was made in a hypothetical conversation with an AI about how would AI destroy humanity. And so, well, one of two ways. We either basically put out so much disinformation that we get everybody angry at each other and they start, you know, blowing everybody up with nukes, right? So that's one way. The other way is we basically create a virtual reality where everyone is so addicted to the dopamine hits that they stop reproducing, right? And so you can almost sort of see some of that playing out right now. Not that I think there's probably AI in the news for sure. And then there is really, the youth today are, you know, birth rates are down, marriages are down, dating is down, everything is down, right? And that's, that is not a good sign for humanity's longevity, right, as a species. So it's a really interesting, we find ourselves at this really, really, really, really interesting place in human history. where we're at a critical moment is how I see it. And this is why I think the developing the psycho-spiritual space to have the wisdom and the insight, the loving compassion, and the courage, quite honestly, to procreate, to raise children, to go forward, and to stay youthful at the same time, to reclaim the planet. I think it's a really interesting time. We don't really realize just how interesting it is. I think if you were to look back at this from... 50 years in the future, you would say, oh, my gosh, these guys were sitting at a pivotal moment in human history, and what decisions did they wake, and how did they actually construct what it is they're trying to accomplish? You can't accomplish something that you can't, you know, conceive of, just like you can't get an answer to a question you're not asking. And so it's very important that we frame the questions that will move us forward, right? So this is why I think, How do we develop, you know, the questions we have at glad and longevity are, how good can we be, how do we make 100 to new 30, how do we live well beyond 120, crack the hayflick limit, how do we live young for a lifetime with youthful curiosity and invigoration, and how do we develop a 300 slash 3,000-year-old mind to where we have the wisdom to actually, you know, shepherd the species forward in a way that's survivable. So, yeah, pretty interesting. Yeah, okay, I'm going to circle back around to the psycho-spiritual development piece. There was a section of your book where you wrote something kind of mind-blowing on that. But, okay, so about your book, 100 is the new 30. I also wrote a biohacking book with a pretty click-baby title, so I'm trying to not throw too large of stones in a glass house here. But... Is 100 is a new 30? This is a pretty fantastic claim. Is this puffery? Is this optimism? Or do you have, do you have patients who are, like, pushing towards 100 years old who have biomarkers of a 30-year-old? The answer is no. We don't have people like that in the practice. We don't have anyone that age in the practice. It gets back to the idea that And you mentioned this in your soliloquy when you started the podcast, that, you know, society has really normalized aging, right? And we've accepted it. We've, it permeates everything. We're told when we're, you know, at this age, we can now do this. And then when we're at that age, well, you shouldn't be doing this. And now it's time to retire. And now it's time to slow down. And you shouldn't go skiing anymore. you know, it's this, this, this, and this. And there's all these social cues and governmental cues, and even in our families and our other, you know, institutions, there's all these cues and clues about what you should and shouldn't be doing, and it's all normalizing aging. And so I reject all of that. I think that's, you know, might have been true in the past, but I think we live in a day and age, really, where the technology is evolving so quickly. that we are going to be able to live young for a lifetime. We are going to basically have a 30 -year-old body when we're 100, and we can't do it today, but I can tell you we'll never get there unless we're asking your question, how do we actually do that? One of the things for the listeners here that I have found incredibly helpful is that I was born in 1954, February of 1954, so I just had a birthday. And what I found incredibly helpful, is that, you know, I've made some laps around the sun, but I wake up 27 every day. And the reason I wake up 27 is I'll be 27 this decade, 28, the next decade, 29, the next decade, when I'm 100, I'll be 30. So, waking up 27 is one of the most powerful things that I can possibly do, and I'll tell you why. Because if I get up and I don't fuel 27, then... I never say to myself, oh, but look, you're great for your age, you just did a snowboarding trip, you're going to go mountain biking this weekend. You know, you can do anything you want in life, right? You're as smart and as bright as you've ever bet, if not more. I never say that. I say, what do I need to do to get back to 27? What do I need to do to get back to 27? And because I'm driven by that question, it enables me to find the solutions. And that's the key. The key is to actually keep your eye on the prize. If people told me, well, you know, you shouldn't go snowboarding, you know, you did this, you did that. I would say, no, I'm 27, I'm going to go, right? And so, can you see the power of that? I think that it's not just a mind trick. Like, I've had accidents and some injuries and things like that, where I thought, you know what, I'm going to have to give up on this idea of being 27. And every time that I got to that point, I doubled down on it. And I actually, you know, figured out how to rebuild my knee, how to, you know, solve this problem, how to do that problem. And it's that mindset that drives everything forward. So this is something that you can implement at home for free, right? You can just pick an age, pick an age that you want to be for the rest of your life, and then wake up that age every single day. 27, I was, like, chasing girls in nightclubs three nights out of the week, so that might not be a good age. No, it's not, you're missing the point. The point is not what you were doing at 27. The idea is to have the body that you had and the physical health that you had at 27. And then along with that, you're developing the wisdom of the 300-year-old bond, so that you're not necessarily, you know, doing things that you look back on now and say, well, maybe that wasn't the best choice, right? Aha, okay. All right, so we've delved into the philosophical, and we may dip back into it, but let's get practical. So I wanted to ask you, which longevity tool do you think best doubles as an instant satisfaction, biohack, or something close to instant satisfaction, biohack for... brain power and for motivation. My wheelhouse of content has kind of been in evaluating and reviewing a bunch of different new tropics and different tools for, like, for boosting brain power so that I can be a better entrepreneur now so that I can be a better father. But yeah, I know that some of these... Longevity, some of the longevity tools are, yeah, that they're, they might not be real instant satisfaction, but I'm wondering in your experience, which one, yeah, like, which one gives people, like, the most immediate, like, feedback as far as, like, R.O.I in their focus and motivation and capacity to get stuff done in life. Better sex. Okay. So. I'm being a little bit facetious, but not. I think here's the point. The point that almost everybody misses when it comes to longevity, and I see this over and over and over again in, quote-unquote, longevity clinics, is that it's all about the solutions, like, okay, we're going to take these nootropics, we're going to use cerebralicin, we're going to use C-Lank and C-Max, we're going to... you know, do transcranial magnetic stimulation on the brain, to do all these things to augment the brain, all of which we do here, right? The point, though, however, is really not what can you do. The point is, who am I? What do I actually need? That's the question that needs to be asked first. And so what we find is that what's really important, and the way we get amazing results for our clients, is not by saying, come in and we'll do this for you. It's come in and let us deconstruct you. Let us actually fully deconstruct you as well as we can to understand what are your genetics, what are your predispositions. Do you have any history of anxiety, depression? Are you headed towards dementia, heart disease, is cancer in your future? You know, once you actually understand the cards that you've been dealt genetically, then you can actually start to play the hand. And on top of that, you have to know... where you are with regards to the mosaic of biological ages that you have. Maybe your brain is actually, you know, maybe you have the brain of an 18-year -old, maybe the issue is your cardiovascular system, or maybe your bone density, or maybe something else, right? So the idea is to fully deconstruct yourself and do the testing that's required to understand that so you know actually which levers to pull. because it's very possible to get hung up on a therapy and say, oh, well, if I just boost NAD, I'll be great. Well, guess what? If you have cancer cells or predisposition, NAD may be exactly the wrong thing for you, right? So there are many things that, even peptides, there are certain peptides you don't want to use if you have some predisposition for cancer. So the idea is everybody's focused on what can they do. when in actual fact, the initial step, and just like claiming an age is critical, the initial step should be, who am I, right? And that means biologically, biochemically, anatomically, genetically, psychospircially, cognitively, who am I, where am I? And then from there, it's like, oh, okay, well, here's what I need to do. And that's how you actually get durable results that actually...…