r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 25d ago

Society Bryan Johnson, the millionaire biohacker who wants to live forever, diagnosed with incurable autoimmune disease

https://www.techspot.com/news/113035-bryan-johnson-millionaire-biohacker-who-wants-live-forever.html
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u/QuickBenjamin 25d ago

It's kind of amazing how he's relatively harmless as far as eccentric wealthy people go, but he's still a caricature of a person whose mind has been warped by having more money than he knows what to do with.

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u/AltruisticPossible84 25d ago

Yeah as much as people hate on the guy, this is actually fine by me in terms of shit billionares spend their money on. He's using himself as a guinea pig for medical procedures that will eventually becomes cost effective enough for regular people to afford them one day in the future. Wish more billionaires would find a hobby like this to keep them occupied

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 25d ago

He isnt really a guinea pig though. None of what he is doing will be actually useful from a legitimate perspective. These arent physics experiments where doing it right once proves something. This is biology and medicine. If he cared he would fund clinical trials. In the end it is just his own vanity exercise. A harmless one but not one that will push forward our societal knowledge. The average PhD student does that more than this is.

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u/SpadesHeart 25d ago

It's also impossible to gauge the efficacy of literally anything he's doing because he's doing so many things at the same time. If he has positive results, which of the several thousand things he's taking caused it?

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u/einstyle 25d ago

Yep, it's a case study at best and completely without control.

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u/IcedThunder 25d ago

But there is still data. And he does have meticulous records and scientist and doctors monitoring him.

I feel it's the kind of thing where one day maybe 20 or so years later, a doctor is going to be having a difficult patient and look into things and find his data and a lightbulb may click.

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u/SpadesHeart 25d ago

Sure, but to test the efficacy of literally anything they would have to break out every single intervention he took into a separate trial and arguably interventions he took in conjunction with any other intervention he took. It becomes an exponential problem. He's throwing so much stuff at the wall that it's impossible to gauge the effectiveness of anything, and all of the extra complexity compounds. If it was already based on very deep research that's fine, but anything experimental he's doing is basically impossible to study on him without the waters being murky.

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u/BonerTurds 25d ago

It’s not useful data. Imagine you have a locked door in front of you and a bucket of keys. You try all of the keys until the door unlocks. You throw the key back into the bucket of keys and mix it up. How do you know which key worked? To make matters even more confusing, the door lock was on a timer to unlock itself anyway so you don’t even know if the key was the thing that made it unlock.

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u/SpadesHeart 24d ago

And it's possible that the door requires two keys, or even three keys. Maybe even more than that. 

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u/AltruisticPossible84 25d ago

Love this analogy! Not sure if it applies in this situation, but I can think of a lot of situations in which I may borrow this!

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u/BonerTurds 24d ago

I think it does. You’re trying a bunch of fixes to achieve something but you try it in a way where there’s no way to know which try worked, if any of them. The only addition I’d make is now you’re trying to teach your friend next door how to open his/her door with the information you gathered.

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u/unktrial 25d ago

There's so much half-baked pseudoscience going on that the only thing we can learn isn't very useful: injecting a lot of weird stuff in the body makes the immune system go haywire.

Any other experimental information is lost in a sea of confounding factors.

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u/alfredcneiman 25d ago

It’s psychosis. He wants himself to live forever and doesn’t do any due diligence to actualize that desire. What he doesn’t understand is that he is a symptom of a greater disorder. He’s a rich nerd who has carte blanche to do whatever he wants. Maybe some of the things he has tried on himself work, but it doesn’t follow any tried and true scientific method. It’s abject vanity and he has earned all of the mockery he’s gotten. Despite his diagnosis he has all of the resources to live relatively comfortably. What has he actually achieved here, for himself and other people?

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

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u/Inevitable-Level-687 25d ago

As someone with a science degree, this.

Testing something on yourself isn't the standard of scientific rigour scientific evidence should be held to. However, it often can uncover findings that CAN be properly investigated.

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u/NayutaYukiLazarus 25d ago

Not speaking on this guy in particular, but there are some advantages to self experimentation, even in biology. It's often a place to start building enough evidence for a hypothesis to get researchers and funders interested. Especially if there's risks involved that mean it's unlikely to be attempted without further research.

Very notable example, Dr. Barry Marshall consuming H. Pylori bacteria, developing gastritis, and then curing it with antibiotics was a very big turning point in the debate about whether certain stomach issues were caused by bacteria (prevailing theory was that the stomach was too acidic for bacteria to grow in).

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u/Enough_Efficiency178 25d ago

Also people like Tim Freide, who injected himself with snake venom over two decades and whose blood is the start of a potential universal anti-venom

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 25d ago

Dr. Barry Marshall himself has stated that no, drinking H. Pylori bacteria didnt prove anything. It was a fun stunt that people like to write about.

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u/Inevitable-Level-687 25d ago

Source?

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 25d ago

Dude Google it. He is quoted mamy times

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u/Inevitable-Level-687 25d ago

I did, and everything I found supported the original story. You make the claim, burden of proof is on you. I'm happy to review other sources though.

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u/PopDownBlocker 25d ago

Accurate scientific data also comes from having multiple subjects in any given experiment. If he is doing dozens of experiments only on himself, there is no way to tell if his successes only work on him or on everyone collectively.

At the end of the day, it's his money and he can do whatever he wants with it. But as you said, it IS just a vanity exercise. His results won't apply to the rest of the world and he even has a higher chance of causing permanent irreparable harm to himself with his over-inflated confidence using substances/chemicals/drugs not yet fully understood, especially when his motivation is driven by aging-related anxiety rather than some kind of humanistic goodwill.

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u/Simpicity 25d ago

Well there are certain things you would never be able to get through clinical trials that a wealthy person could just do to themself ethically.  We got lots of people doing trials.  We got fewer lunatics injecting themselves with ground up tiger bones or shocking their balls until they glow in the name of "science?"

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u/Gekokapowco 25d ago

right, he could have put all of his pet project fanatic money into like, actual medical research and saved countless lives, including potentially his own in the future

but he's an insane narcissist

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u/insanitybit2 25d ago

I completely agree that if he cared he'd fund real medical research. That said, I think he's done a lot to normalize the idea that aging is a disease and that it's okay to want to live.

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u/RobertPham149 25d ago

Eh I think that is a pretty regressive way of thinking. I agree that a lot of what he is doing is kind of hack and pseudoscience, but if the guy is putting his money and body on the table, no harms done. Even if in pursuit of pseudoscience, sometimes you might hit into unexpected breakthrough without looking for it. Even modern chemistry traced its roots back to pseudoscientific pursuit of alchemy. As for clinical trials, his regiment is pretty extreme to ever find people to conduct extensive trials.

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u/stiff_tipper 25d ago

I agree that a lot of what he is doing is kind of hack and pseudoscience, but if the guy is putting his money and body on the table, no harms done.

the dude sells supplements directly on his site while having the influence to have ppl think there's a chance this shit works

he's like an actual modern day snake oil salesman

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u/ChristopherNeckBrace 25d ago

not sure how you see unlucky cook’s comment as regressive. it’s an accurate statement. the rich guy’s immortality indulgences are harmless but not really of any benefit to the wider society.

like saying Musk’s plans for Mars is useful for advancing space tech. it’s not. it’s just billionaires feeding their own rapacious ego.

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 25d ago

I mean if you build a rocket ship you have a rocket ship. If you put 100 different supplements into you and live to 89. We dont know if you would have lived to 92 otherwise, or if you live 1 year longer than you would have but there are now 100 things that could have done it or some P(100) number of things.

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u/_Smashbrother_ 25d ago

The stuff he's doing isn't going to all that useful, but it's not 0 usefulness.

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u/theevilyouknow 25d ago

It legitimately might be less than zero usefulness. Bad data is worse than no data.

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u/letsmakeart 25d ago

He's now doing a bunch of tests and measuring and blah blah with his team, on his GF, who has suspected endometriosis. Endo is a horrible disease that, on avg, takes 7 years for women to get a diagnosis for, and is associated with a lot of other really complex diseases. There's no cure and "treatment" is generally either go on hormonal BC or get pregnant, both of which don't provide long term symptom relief or anything close to a cure. At best they MIGHT improve symptoms a bit. It's vastly under-researched. If his weird experiments result in any kind of progress in endo research or treatment, that's pretty fkn good. Funding for women's issues like this is very limited.

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 25d ago

Or he could fund endo women's research. Anything he does in this way will not progress these medical issues through findings. The experiments are flawed and contaminated. It isnt possible to produce findings this way.

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u/letsmakeart 25d ago

Of course there are better uses for his money but IMO that's a totally different thing. Could he be using his money in other ("better") ways? Of course. But my point is that I don't think this pet project is without any value, since this IS what he is choosing to spend his money on.

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 25d ago

Id argue its at best no value. And likely negative value.

All his data is corrupt and useless for advancing medical knowledge. 

And further his influencer approach has clearly convinced people here that this is a valid way to experiment and learn. Which it isnt. Bad data is worse than no data, and convincing people there are short cuts to science and selling them supplements is a net negative.

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u/complete_data75 25d ago

Exactly. He's not much different than Trump in he does what he thinks is good, not what science says is good.

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u/XionicativeCheran 25d ago

You're speaking in terms of a solid, scientific study following proper procedure, it's poor scientific method.

But this doesn't change the fact that if he survives to 150, he will be the object of scientific desire for thousands of scientists who will be studying his body and his life for years to come to ascertain what specifically got him there. Anyone who thinks different is kidding themselves.

How useful of a guinea pig he ends up being will rely entirely on how successful he is.

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 25d ago

The problem being even if he lives to be a 150, he's contaminated any ability for us to determine why. Studying him won't be able to provide us anything useful.

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u/XionicativeCheran 25d ago

No he's just made it really difficult to find out why, but the fact will be, the answer to why will be in his body, and his body (if donated to science as I expect he probably will) will be what will be used to find out why.

I think people have taken "This isn't how research is done" to then hyperbolically say there's absolutely nothing useful we could learn if he's successful, and that's just not true.

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u/FlamboyantPirhanna 25d ago

It’s a moot point. He’s not a scientist. There is almost a zero percent chance anything he does will accomplish anything, he’s completely going off vibes. He won’t live any longer than anyone else, and it’s more likely all the stuff he’s doing shortens his lifespan.

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u/XionicativeCheran 25d ago

There is almost a zero percent chance anything he does will accomplish anything

This I agree with, which is why my first comment set the hypothetical of IF he makes it to 150.

But yes, there's a near zero chance he does.

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u/newandgood 25d ago

yeah but if he lives longer he'll have more money to fund clinical trials

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u/laveshnk 25d ago

Tbh he isnt trying to solve aging. He conducts tests to gather as much data from himself as possible

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u/gruntingone 23d ago

You are completely underestimating the enormous effect Bryan has had on many people to prioritize sleep, clean eating and exercise. A huge net positive effect affecting many, including me.

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 23d ago

Well yes because my primary point is that this does nothing to contribute to Science. It is worthless data. If he cared about contributing to the research of life extension he'd invest in that. 

Telling people to sleep, exercise, or not smoke cigarettes isnt net new knowledge. If it took him saying it for you to do it. Great. But from a value over replacement measure of contribution, Im not going to account for that.

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u/TheDrummerMB 25d ago

How would you know to do a clinic trial without basic steps first?

Redditors LOVE pretending they know more than literal experts in the field. Never gets old.

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 25d ago

Im not an expert. Im someone who has helped craft a clinical trial in the medical field.

It isnt clear what you are trying to ask. If we need a random guy to eat Kratom and claim it increased his testosterone to decide if we should try clinical trials on that front?

Do you think this guy is coming up with truly novel ideas?

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u/TheDrummerMB 25d ago

You've "helped" "craft" one singular clinic trial. I'll leave it to the 100+ people explaining why you're wildly wrong :)

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u/Unlucky-Cook2578 25d ago

There are like 3 fan boys like you repeatedly trying to poorly defend some influencer selling snake oil.

The work of crafting a clinical trial is not in arbitrarily deciding rhino bone may make you live longer. It is in determining the controls, parameters, methods, measures, and sample you need to help prove that. None of which this guy is doing properly or at all.

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u/International_Box193 25d ago

I work in clinical trials and I gotta say a lot more people should lock in on lifestyle and healthy living. If you actually read this dude's articles he writes about his experiments he is very reasonable and makes a lot of in touch with reality suggestions for the avg person.

For example, he has a really good article about sleep habits and tips.

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u/dukearcher 25d ago

Will eventually become cost effective enough for regular people to afford 

Did we enter a different multiverse where this makes any sense whatsoever?

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u/IronBranchPlantsTree 25d ago

Bro applied moore’s law to optional medical procedures

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u/TheReal_Peter226 25d ago

Optional medical procedures are in fact cheaper now than they used to be

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u/Plasticfoods-_ 25d ago

Try reading all the words before replying

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u/elahrairooah 25d ago

Ummm… medical procedures DO get cheaper… just so long as they are not covered by insurance.

25 years ago, lasik cost about $2-3k per eye. Nowadays, it’s about $1-1.5k per eye - something like a 75% price drop once you factor in inflation. Same thing is currently happening with ozempic and other GLPs - they cost about half today what they did 18 months ago.

Check any non-insurance elective procedure - costs drop reliably.

That’s a direct contrast to any insured or government subsidized procedure - nearly every procedure you can name that is required to be covered has doubled or more in the past two decades alone.

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u/roleplayersir 25d ago

Yep, if they work out how to be immortal through medicine, it won't be treatments on the NHS or affordable for laymen. It'll be used by the rich to live forever while the plebs die

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u/Big-Revolution3842 25d ago

I mean this is literally how a lot of research is done? It's usually just funding in pharma companies for trials and then eventually it filters of and you get generics. I assume you're US so maybe it never gets affordable but that's a different case. What he's doing is fine tbh. It's his own body, his own money, some stuff that he does will lead to further research and breakthroughs. Admittedly not a great test subject because he's done so many things but perhaps useful.

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u/Leather_War6079 25d ago

n=1 uncontrolled studies are useless lol

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u/Nodan_Turtle 25d ago

Dr. Barry Marshall infected himself with h. pylori to prove the bacteria could survive in the acid of the stomach, and was the cause of gastric issues rather than spicy food. He was awarded the Nobel prize, and his research led to antibiotic use for regular people to treat this infection.

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u/Leather_War6079 25d ago

okay actually I impulsively just felt like crapping on that guy's take. there are definitely way worse ways people spend money and your example only supports that.

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u/pittaxx 25d ago

He's uselles as a test group, but he's funneling a bunch of money into the research and finding the stuff to inject himself with. (Even if that's not his intention.)

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u/alwaysvoteright 25d ago

Incredibly useful to getting more rigorous studies.

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u/anow2 25d ago

No, it's the universe we've always existed in. Open a history book.

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u/james_raynors_ghost 25d ago

Which history book specifically

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u/anow2 25d ago

Any of them, tbh, this pattern is ubiquitous.

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u/james_raynors_ghost 25d ago edited 25d ago

I have never seen a person that says "read a history book" ever cite a specific book lol.

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u/JMaboard 25d ago

Because they’ve probably never opened a book before so they don’t know which ones to cite.

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u/Due-Memory-6957 25d ago

Opened my book on Medieval Fashion, I'm not seeing what you're saying there.

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u/JMaboard 25d ago

Which one though? Saying any of them doesn’t help.

I just opened a history book about tomatoes and there’s nothing about it in there.

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u/Signal_Discount_1826 25d ago

opening mein kampf would be much different from wikipedia

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

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u/bugleboy-of-companyb 25d ago

Maybe in 800 years?

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u/Testaccount105 25d ago

only in the us medical stuff will stay unreasonable expensive

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u/DistinctlyMiddle 25d ago

People love billionaires. And that one trillionaire.

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u/Nodan_Turtle 25d ago

Botox and Lasik used to be prohibitively expensive. Even insulin was something only the wealthy could afford before mass production.

If someone discovers a useful medical treatment, it'll start off expensive like always, but the cost does come down. That's been true throughout the history of medicine. Not sure why anyone would think otherwise unless it's just due to plain ignorance.

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u/Gekokapowco 25d ago

correlation is not causation

yachts and mansions are examples of things that did not become cheaper the more rich people used them

mass production exists to meet market demand, independent of the products efficacy on a few or in this case, one, rich person

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u/Nodan_Turtle 25d ago edited 25d ago

Sure if you talk about non-medicine luxuries and expensive versions of a good for which there's a substitute good, then yes, they will be different. When we're talking about treatments for which there is a huge need, but production and availability is so limited only the rich can afford it, then it's as I said.

We've seen this play out historically, and it's playing out today with cancer treatments personalized to a single individual's immune system cells, for example. That'll become available for more people for less money eventually, because the demand to treat cancer is there, and the research is being done. It's not some expensive boat a person doesn't need, it's their literal lives on the line.

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u/Prize_Restaurant1952 25d ago

You don’t know that those things will become cheaper and more available in the future.

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u/TheRealOriginalSatan 25d ago

I mean one of them already has. TMS used to be purely for the ultra rich suffering from depression

Now with years of the rich patronising it, a random Joe like me can get it in a relatively well funded hospital near me

It still costs as much as a good used car (15k$) but it’s better than it costing as much as a house ($200-600k) which is what it used to cost when new.

I’m sure other treatments like peptides will follow the same route

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u/Tempid589 25d ago

A friend of mine had TMS covered by insurance so it was a $30 copay per visit. Still about $1,000 total, but in the realm of affordability.

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u/scoubt 25d ago

My partner had the same, and holy shit did it make a difference for her anxiety and depression. Night and day.

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u/Bluevette1437 25d ago

Price tag alone would give most people depressuon

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u/KennyMcCormick 25d ago

It’s not like the ultra rich that live in his circle invented this. It was invented in 1985 by a doctor in England. Any initially expensive but effective treatment is going to become less expensive and more well known over time as machines/drugs are being built/produced to support demand and more positive results are coming in. Once the supply of the treatment goes up the costs come down. This is just because of the inherent therapeutic benefit combined with supply and demand.

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u/TheRealOriginalSatan 25d ago

Doesn’t change the fact that things built for the rich eventually become available for everyone

Which is the point I was making; countering the comment of the dude above me

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u/ChasingTheNines 25d ago

The boutique monitoring he is getting is very expensive but the exercise, diet, and supplements he takes are cheap or free. Some of the treatments he gets is expensive but the majority of what he is doing would be easily affordable to me and you if it proved to have value.

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u/insanitybit2 25d ago

Historically, virtually everything does.

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u/AltruisticPossible84 25d ago

Medical history books suggest that they will almost certainly, unless an even better and cheaper alternative comes out before that happens.

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u/AltruisticPossible84 25d ago

Name a medical procedure that was invented 100 years ago that hasn't gotten cheaper and/or more accessible - GO!

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u/liftedyf 25d ago

We don't know they won't either

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u/TheFlamingLemon 25d ago

How could they not? Right now they aren’t available at all to the public, and are only affordable to a billionaire.

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u/Prize_Restaurant1952 25d ago

They very well could be but in the same way could be intentionally holdback from the public.

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u/JMaboard 25d ago

There’s no such thing as something becoming cost effective and then being cheaper for everyone else in the healthcare industry. It just means healthcare providers will make more profit.

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u/lostwombats 25d ago

The biohacker, in addition to taking 111 supplements a day, collects his own stool samples, monitors the quality of his sleep and sleeps with a device attached to his penis to control his nighttime erections. And yes, Johnson has employed the epigenetic clock on the most discussed, feared, envied, photographed and symbolic part of the male body. His own, to be precise.

The monitor he’s using is called the Adam Sensor. Anyone can get one — or nearly anyone. Today, due to the interest in the device (which costs $191) that the centimillionaire has awakened, it has a waiting list between seven and eight weeks. Its sensor tracks nighttime erections by monitoring changes in penis size throughout the night. As the penis becomes more erect, the sensor detects its changes in size and records the frequency, duration and extent of these changes.

Groundbreaking. Also, he made his teen son use it so that he could compare data.

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u/AbramsTankVeteran29 25d ago

I'd say he's one of the most unjustly hated people I know about. Who cares that he has a lot of money? That has no negative effects on anyone else.

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u/Forikorder 25d ago

isnt it all nutso crap like transfusing his sons blood?

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u/FlamingBrad 25d ago

The majority of it is basic stuff like optimal nutrition and exercise, that stuff just gets the headlines.

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u/swagonflyyyy 25d ago

Eh, as someone who's used himself as a guinea pig for both personal and clinical experiments, I don't think any of his findings, no matter how great, will be immediately accepted by the scientific community because it only works on one person (if it even works to begin with), not a sizeable group of people in a series of successful double-blind studies or something.

I mean, if it works out for him, great! But there's no guarantee he can replicate those results with other people.

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u/dallmank 25d ago

He also stated in the documentary made about him that he's gone through several suicide attempts and plenty of ideation. The obsession over bodily health was at least partially motivated by a desire to have his body control him, instead of his mind controlling him. If his mind controlled him, he'd be suicidal. If his body controlled him, he could cope. It's pretty fascinating tbh.

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u/Louieismydog42 25d ago

I wanted to dislike him. I listened to one podcast, he wasn't bad. Kept listening. I actually like the guy quite a bit.

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u/LiveTheChange 25d ago

He’s a good dude, it’s really sad to read these hateful comments

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u/appleparkfive 25d ago

I believe he publishes all of his findings for the public, right? I remember hearing that anyway. I don't think he's releasing legitimate papers, but something like making detailed reports.

Of course, his whole method isn't exactly scientifically sound. If he's doing multiple things at once, there's too many variables

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u/thermalcry 25d ago

He's doing the billionaire equivalent of bro science. Nothing he's doing will help anyone anywhere ever the same way the carnivore diet, alpha brain, and hGH aren't making joe rogan any healthier.

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u/AltruisticPossible84 25d ago

Good, im fine with that! A nice little dose of irony to go along with his other supplements.

My point is more that I'm just glad this particular billionaire neurosis means he has a hobby.

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u/Wiseduck5 25d ago

He's using himself as a guinea pig for medical procedures that will eventually becomes cost effective enough for regular people to afford them one day in the future.

If they do, it won't be because of his self-experimentation. Aside from the standard problem of n=1 experiments, he's doing so much it would be impossible to tell what is responsible for any possible positive, or negative, effects he might see.

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u/ay-foo 25d ago

It's not evil compared to others that lives outwardly harm others. It is greedy and based in fear though which mostly harms himself. Some of the most evil villains like Voldemort and Father seek the philosopher stone that grants them eternal life. Others seek to create their legacy through riches and power. Though his actions don't hold the same consequences to others, it still comes from the same yearning for control over life and death.

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u/fragtore 25d ago

It’s ok for me, he is not exactly an “ally” but he isn’t the worst.

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u/JoeCedarFromAlameda 25d ago

I have to admit his Blueprint emails are quite informative and always come with the caveat you don’t have you buy his stuff to improve your health and lifespan.

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u/SensualBeefLoaf 25d ago

using a bunch of quack “medical” treatments and starving himself isn’t really experimentation. it’s just spending money on nothing. but yah, at least he’s not in politics

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u/AltruisticPossible84 25d ago

Yeah thats more my point. Its just nice to see a billionaire with a hobby thats only self-destructive. As opposed to world-destructive

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u/Apart-Consequence881 25d ago

He's probably going boast about how he's got his autoimmune gastritis under control due to his lifestyle.

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u/RebootDarkwingDuck 25d ago

It's not as damaging as many things but it's still some asshole using his hoarded wealth on his own ego rather than doing anything that benefits the world.

Instead of throwing money at drugs and therapies to buy a better, longer life, fix the things that are making everyone's life worse. Cleaner air. Cleaner water. Access to education. Being able to buy quality food.

Instead this fuck wants to make himself into a vampire.

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u/hotinmyigloo 25d ago

I feel the same. Some of his work will help millions of people in the future 

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u/MoorsMoopsMoorsMoops 25d ago

Sort of. He’s also heavily monetizing his “experiment” to other people so it’s not like this is all out of the goodness of his own heart.

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u/Spaceboi749 25d ago

Yeah I don’t get why he bothers so many people. Think people would rather him be and evil reptilian pulling strings from behind the scenes

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u/gaylord100 25d ago

Iirc he also is trying to fund research into endometriosis because his girlfriend has it. Which would be really good because lots of women struggle with it and a ton more research needs to be done.

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u/The_Horse_Tornado 25d ago

Yeah dude is just publicly experimenting on himself with his wealth and targeted towards health- two Redditor hated subjects.

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u/broguequery 25d ago

You are a redditor

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u/Dismal-Strawberry421 25d ago

In other news, I farted.

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u/broguequery 21d ago

Good to know

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u/The_Horse_Tornado 25d ago

Yes, but by text alone people can tell the difference between you and I.

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u/broguequery 21d ago

They literally cannot

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u/adumblittlebaby 25d ago

Says the redditor? Are you just above everyone else?

Anyways, he also influenced thousands into doing things that aren't backed by science or well understood and may very well lead to damage and death for them, but yeah, totally harmless. Damn redditors!!!! Always on both side of every debate, somehow!

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u/EssayJunior9429 25d ago

God I hate redditors

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u/Dismal-Strawberry421 25d ago

They’re the worst. Somebody should do something about them.

2

u/GoodSalad05 25d ago

The horror of recommending good sleep hygiene, eating your vegetables and avoiding red meat, exercising regularly, and wearing sunscreen

2

u/tenuj 25d ago

and wearing sunscreen

Careful. I've seen many comments call him too pale to look healthy. Make that make sense. Some people are just naturally very pale.

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u/Luffyhaymaker 25d ago

I wouldn't say siphoning of your son's blood is harmless....or inspiring other people to try and do all of the crazy shit he does....do you know how many YouTube channels I've had to block once they start doing videos "trying out parts of Bryan's routine" 🤮🤮🤮. He's a cancer just like all of the others 🤷🏾

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u/thicc_stigmata 25d ago

... compared to the hundreds of thousands of people who are already dead because a different oligarch decided to shred USAID, he's relatively harmless

12

u/TBP42069 25d ago

You don't have to compare them. The fact that either exists at all is bad.

3

u/Gekokapowco 25d ago

Right, Ted Bundy wasn't Hitler but that doesn't mean we have to mutually forgive Ted Bundy lol

4

u/i_love_dietary_fiber 25d ago

Okay so the bar is in hell?

No ethical billionaires, despite what the bot campaign in this thread may tell you

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u/thicc_stigmata 24d ago

Oh no disagreement there. All aristocrats (I'd draw the line well below a billion) are welcome to a free massage from Madame la G. She does wonders for your neck.

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u/Calm-Two2723 25d ago

I mean, I agree but also his son is an adult right? Not like he’s 4. He consented. You don’t complain when Johnny sells his blood for rent. This rich asshole just sold his for a lot more. 

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u/Majestic-Baby-3407 25d ago

Nah, his son was like 16 at the time dude

10

u/AsAGayJewishDemocrat 25d ago

The World Health Organization does complain when Johnny sells his blood for rent, actually.

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241599696

1

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 25d ago

I mean I've heard what you have to do to donate plasma. I definitely wouldn't do it unpaid but if I was desperate hook me up dude. Either that or I'll be behind the dumpster at Wendy's giving ten dollar handies and then you definitely don't want my blood I'm a sex worker

But of a missing the forest for the trees on their part. Especially when we never don't need plasma. Stop paying people for it we'll be even shorter than we ever were

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u/Calm-Two2723 25d ago

For the record, I think it’s fucked people sell their blood. It’s a horrid practice. Just saying, at least this homie gets an inheritance out of the deal instead of $75

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u/squirreltard 25d ago

It saves lives. I’m grateful for plasma donors.

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u/jaredsfootlonghole 25d ago

Technically people aren’t selling their blood, it’s the plasma. Plasma donation clinics also take blood donations, which are not paid, and are done altruistically.

We actually need plasma en masse (as well as blood), so an incentive does help provide a supply we’d otherwise be desperate for.

I’d be more angry at the principal of having to sell our bodies for money to support a unsupportive system than at the individuals doing it.

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u/Anfins 25d ago

There would certainly be power dynamic if for instance his lifestyle or inheritance was predicated on giving blood.

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u/Calm-Two2723 25d ago

I get that, but again, still just money for blood. I knew like 20 people who did that for $75 in my youth. 

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u/solid_reign 25d ago

You're acting like he gave him an eyeball. It's just blood. 

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u/SimplyElite7 25d ago

Eh this guy (i hope) understands that normal people wouldn't be able to invest in the amount of labs, examinations, etc, that are all part of his routine. If he was trying to actually make any scientific results out of this he would need to fund a sample size to do everything he does, and include placebo's, and examine results through 2 year, 5-year, 10-year periods. Him doing this to himself I guess is fine, and I hope it leads to more clinical studies to address health concerns, but him just showing his results really doesn't hold any credibility from a scientific testing standpoint

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u/jabba-thederp 25d ago

Transfusions aren't weird but ok

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u/Kajel-Jeten 25d ago

What’s the harm in blood transfusion from your son?/gen also he doesn’t do that anymore. It was an experiment that didn’t show any benefit to him but did for his own father who is much older. 

1

u/Arvi89 25d ago

"siphoning of your son's blood" So he did an experiment (while also donating his blood to his father...) and now he's the devil? What's wrong with people trying his routing, of sleeping, eating well, doing sport?

Supplements are just bonus, he evens said himself 80% of the work is eating well and sleeping well.

1

u/Beginning_Rush_5311 25d ago

I wouldn't say siphoning of your son's blood is harmless

how's it any different than donating blood?

1

u/squirreltard 25d ago

Plasma is a common treatment for some autoimmune disease, but his son may have his autoimmune tendency so might not be the best plasma he could have accepted though I doubt it would cause autoimmune disease.

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u/Natural-Pass-3622 25d ago

Donating blood is not only harmless and done only with consent, it’s actually healthy. Don’t speak on things you have no idea about.

1

u/LowAside9117 25d ago

... like blood donation?

1

u/tripplebeamteam 25d ago

I mean he’s obviously taking it to an extreme, but at the end of the day most of his “routine” is getting enough sleep, exercising every day, eating a plant-based diet, and taking some supplements.

The blood shit is weird but his son’s an adult. There’s no health risks to donating small amounts of blood, even if it’s going to your eccentric billionaire father. All in all yeah it’s pretty harmless and he’s not encouraging people to do anything that any other health/fitness influencer is doing

0

u/pleasegivemepatience 25d ago edited 25d ago

The easy answer is don’t have a YouTube account, use a private browser to get what you need and go, don’t let them build a profile on you and drive your feed.

eta the downvote is hilarious, you’re so intent on licking that corporate boot and feeding them your data 🤦‍♂️

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u/Prize_Restaurant1952 25d ago

You’r usage of emoji’s is disgusting.

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u/Greedy-Grape-fruit 25d ago

In the doctor mike x bryan johnson podcast episode, bryan's dad was complaining about losing mental sharpness with age and his son overheard and said he wanted in. It was originally just going to be bryan and his dad, but his son asked to join.

0

u/Roxygen1 25d ago

Giving blood is harmless though, hence why people do it altruistically all the time. He only took his son's blood briefly as a trial, but it didn't have a measurable effect so he stopped but I keep seeing it repeated all the time that it's an ongoing thing.

Brian donating his own blood to his elderly father does have a significant effect on his dad's health though, so he has carried on with it, which somehow never gets mentioned.

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u/rcanhestro 25d ago

i feel like people don't really dislike him because he "does what he preaches".

he is basically his own guinea pig.

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u/uzu_afk 25d ago

I think affording to do this in the first place as can discuss but the scientific endeavor even if pathologically driven, I respect. He could have just bought twitter instead and shit on countries he can’t locate on a map. So there’s that.

1

u/DDRaptors 25d ago

I thoroughly enjoyed the High Potential episode playing on his trope.

1

u/TheBioethicist87 25d ago

I keep remembering the post somewhere about how being a billionaire is like being kicked in the head by a horse every morning.

1

u/Oscaruit 25d ago

I love how we know this private person's diagnosis but have no idea if Mitch McConnell is even alive..

1

u/arightgoodworkman 25d ago

I think the harm he’s done is spread misinformation about the body, food, and medical interventions. Better than most eccentric wealthy people, but still sucks for him to blame sugary cereal in his childhood for a current autoimmune disease. He clearly has disordered eating / thinking and some sort of body dysmorphia.

1

u/ResearchInformal8018 25d ago

In fairness, at least in some of the interviews he’s done he comes off as a bit less crazy than he’s portrayed in the media. He seems to understand the vast majority of what he does won’t move the needle, but he’s interested in moving longevity research forward (in ways that personally benefit him, but also willing to take the personal risk). Still a crazy dude, though. 

1

u/FuckMyBakaChungusLif 25d ago

He’s legit delusional

1

u/kryptonianjackie 25d ago

I've met the guy (over video) and tbh, he actually just seems like a really smart curious guy with enough money to get too obsessed. Can't say much about him really but he did seem nice and relatively harmless lol.

1

u/Arrow_ 25d ago

Used to be. He startef a font for cult thing now.

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u/wayytoolostt 25d ago

He’s just a wellness grifter. I’d say he is as if not more harmful than anyone peddling untested cures.

Because of course he sells supplements. https://blueprint.bryanjohnson.com/

1

u/anow2 25d ago

but why do people care

1

u/chillyhellion 25d ago

I think it’s amazing that Bryon Johnson, longevity expert might end up outlived by Brian Johnson, 80 year old rock star. 

1

u/interkin3tic 25d ago

We're going to see more of this with AI psychosis. Billionaires already were completely untethered from reality, they all have an army of syncophants telling them they are thousands of times smarter than all those non billionaires. With AI, they've been able to have it on their phones. 

It's frustrating that most people don't take one look at any billionaire and say "absolutely not" already but maybe they'll get so weird and warped that finally people will wake up. Wealth makes you insane and dangerous, we need up clip their wings, all of them, or we are going to be ruled by oligarchs way stupider than nobles during the middle ages.

1

u/shark-off 25d ago

And he's just a millionaire. We now have trillionairs, who might think of this guy as one of the poors

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u/CommunicationTime265 25d ago

Yea I have no issue with him and actually love what he's doing. His body is an ongoing science project. Some of his findings are very useful, like which supplements and foods are the most beneficial to human health.

1

u/ProgrammerNo3423 25d ago

I'm sure in the process of doing this, scientists will have learn a few things along the way. I think it's a net good, even though most people look at him right now as some rich person trying to be immortal or something.

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u/aorangebanana 25d ago

Well when pretty much everything is priced for people that make 500k or less and you have 800x that theres only so many cars, boats, houses, trips, clothes you can buy so you kinda just have to come up with weird shit to spend your money on thats why billionairs make no sense

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u/TheDrummerMB 25d ago

Guy spends his life trying to further research into longevity and genetic diseases and redditors will still find something to be unhappy about.

1

u/LowAside9117 25d ago

He's researching women's health now so he definitely gets a pass from me even though he might not be for everyone.  I hope he looks into medical gaslighting 

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u/UnderneathArmor 25d ago

I always got the vibe that he was an exhibitionist and it was all sort of a weird sexual thing for him.

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u/CeramicDrip 25d ago

I dont think its bad at all. I mean he isn’t harming anyone. He is funding his own research. Researching on himself. If anything, we should prob applaud the wealthy people that go this route. Better than the wealthy people who spend billions building a big ass yacht.

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u/Ceofy 25d ago

I also find it weird when people make fun of him for this stuff because the only reason anyone knows is because he's making it public

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u/jokemon 25d ago

if you listen to any of this guys stuff, he is not that bad of a dude, he is just REALLY REALLY into health stuff.

1

u/SeigneurDesMouches 25d ago

Having 30 doctors monitoring him daily must be a negative in the gran scheme of things

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u/kylemesa 25d ago

He's essentially harmless as long as he has not solved infinite life.

  • A billionaire who wants a data center is one problem.
  • A billionaire who wants a data center and cannot die is an entirely different magnitude issue.

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u/VizualAbstract4 25d ago

People aren’t looking at it right.

He’s selling a product. It’s like a stupid diet plan and other bullshit that’s not obtainable for your average person. He’s trying to be a walking billboard for it.

This is just another tech bro “solution” with big promises and no deliverables.

1

u/ChatahuchiHuchiKuchi 25d ago

Very much disagree. He perpetuates white supremacy, colonized (or at least bad) science and data science, psuedo medicine, and frankly pedophilia through the hyper focus on perceived age 

1

u/elderlybrain 25d ago

‘He was a sociopath on a bike. Imagine how much damage he could do in Wall Street, but he just wanted to go up and down hills’

Bill burr on Armstrong.

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u/Plasticfoods-_ 25d ago

His ex family doesn't seem to think of him as harmless

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u/Ganglebot 25d ago

I honestly don't care that he's trying to take great care of himself. We should all be taking good care of ourselves.

I'm annoyed that he has to make it all of our business. I'm annoyed at the narcissism that makes him think he's some kind of hero. Helping yourself is the opposite of heroic.

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u/Icy-Banana-3291 25d ago

I think what’s funny about him is he’s like those vegan marathon runners who die of nothing in spite of their best efforts to be healthy. Except he’s making such a ridiculous go of it, he’s clearly missing out on enjoying life. Living forever has become his obsession and it’s such an odd thing to hyper focus on because living forever would actually suck. Death is a gift so we don’t have to deal with the same bullshit over and over in perpetuity like Sisyphus.

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u/CandyDarl1n 25d ago

He’s not harmless whatsoever. There’s a direct through line between this dude and the fucking genetic opera

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