8 Longevity Lessons Learnt from Japan

1. Public health common sense

Avoid the spread of germs and bacterial/viral contamination by wearing masks when sick and also by using hand sanitizer in public areas. Most Japanese restaurants provide wet paper or cotton towels to be used before meals. Some of the cotton towels are even heated prior to be handed in. Almost all public restrooms are properly equipped with toilet seat sanitizer. Also, Japanese people make sure to change their shoes for slippers when they get home. In this way, they avoid bringing in whatever it is that they have encountered while being on the street.

2. Eat fish, seafood and seaweed

Unless one totally rejects the Japanese cuisine, fish, seafood and seaweed are eaten on a daily basis. This can happen without one even noticing it, as many soups and dishes contain at least one of these three ingredients.

3. Eat plenty of vegetables

The importance of vegetables in Japan can be noticed from the spread of vegan cafes and restaurants, vegetable and fruit juice bars and also form the sheer amount of 100% vegetable juices that can be found in regular supermarkets. 

4. Drink green tea

Green tea is drunk everywhere in Japan. Hot or cold, in a cafe or a tea house, as a welcome drink in a sushi bar, in the metro, on the street, you name it. There is a wide range of iced green teas that can be bought in supermarkets or convenience stores. Almost all of them are unsweetened.

5. Reduce your sugar intake

There are no dessert menus in traditional Japanese restaurants. Most of the sweets that can be found here are either made from a bean paste (which is not excessively sweet) or can be acquired in French confectioneries (which are famously small).

6. Take care of yourself and find your vocation

Japanese people are usually mindful of their choice in clothes and of the way in which they look, paying a lot of attention to the details of a perfect hair, appropriate make-up and manicure. This attitude probably leads to self-content and to being at ease with oneself. It is not only the physical looks that matter, but also the mind. While sipping a tea or a coffee, many Japanese, both young and old, take a couple of minutes off to read a book or just indulge into a power nap. Work is not forgotten, nonetheless. I have seen a lot of passion and devotion in many people performing different sorts of jobs: from gardening to teaching, from driving to complicated financial analyses that I couldn't really figure out.

8. Be nice to others

The Japanese politeness is already notorious. Many read in it a lack of honesty and openness. However, I would like to focus not on interpretations of it, but rather on how it is felt at the individual level. I, for one, love it when no smile of mine remains unanswered, when people help me without me even asking for their help or when I see nice deeds done without expecting any personal benefit in return. Whether they're heartfelt or not (and who could really tell?), smiles eventually become contagious. 

Tokyo's Drinks

One of the things that strikes me most about Tokyo is its variety of non-alcoholic beverages and the wide spread of vending machines that sell them. These vending machines are literally everywhere, rarely alone and mostly in groups. I've taken a couple of pictures of the drinks that caught my eye and will update this post every time I find new noteworthy additions.

By far, the most delicious drink I have encountered so far.

Please, do not drink in the morning, evening or night.

'For many years people have taken it to feel cool'. So, go ahead...what are you waiting for?

 'This black coffee gives you a full flavor. Please enjoy the sharp aftertaste that the sharpness.'

'POCARI SWEAT is a healthy beverage that smoothly supplies the lost water and electrolytes during perspiration. With the appropriate density and electrolytes, close to that of human body fluid, it can be easily absorbed into the body.'

Worry not! 'This cider is made from clear water'.

'COLA SHOCK + makes you feel refresh & better! Get a tasty new Cola!'

How Novels Make Me a Better Person

I don't know about you, but most of my friends don't really like reading novels. For many, opening a fiction book has become tantamount to throwing their time out the window and receiving nothing worthy of it in return. In their opinion, the situation is totally reversed when it comes to biographies, science or even popular science books. These latter genres provide the reader with  some kind of useful information - and sometimes even knowledge - which can be put to a good use later on, even if this use ends up as a quick mention in a general conversation.

Wanting to know more is definitely a good thing and I, for one, am a huge fan and avid reader of the popular science literature. In a world full of pragmatism, defending the value of information gathering is futile, although emphasizing the beauty and usefulness of apparently impractical endeavors, such as that of reading fiction, seems to be a must. In all honesty, delving into the twisted plot of a novel every now and then might enrich your life in a not so direct fashion, but meaningful nonetheless. The exact route will probably vary from person to person, but there is still a lot to learn or at least to meditate upon.

What strikes me most about novels is the way in which they bring me closer to my utmost spiritual ideal, which is that of unconditional love. Unless we've been lucky enough to be already born this way, most of us need to train our capacity for loving other people in the absence of positive expectations. Looking at our evolutionary history, marked by more or less intense periods of violent conflict, it makes so much more sense for conditional love  to have been selected for at the expense of its unconditional version. So don't be too harsh on yourself if you find it hard to love only the people you like and who love you back. But don't think that you cannot do anything about it either because that's not quite true. The control of your emotions derives from the control of your thoughts and we already know how one can successfully discipline one's mind. As with most human enterprises, it requires perseverance, commitment and some degree of effort. On top of that, a comfortable cushion perhaps and a couple of minutes of mindfulness per day.

Now, you might reasonably ask why would someone be interested in achieving unconditional love if (1) we might as well survive without it and (2) it requires so much work. The answer lies in the fact that general compassion and its association with unconditional love lead to personal happiness and spiritual fulfillment. These are the findings of a relatively large body of psychology and neuroscience research. Also, you might easily notice this correlation by observing the behavior of those people around you whom you regard as genuinely happy. Truth be told, how could real happiness be associated with feelings of hate or with the holding of grudges? It's kind of a non-starter.

When we analyze the behavior of the people around us and, more rationally or not, decide on liking or disliking them, we have to be aware of the fact that we have a very fragmented perspective on their lives. Being lied upon, for instance, is not something that will make you love the liar. But understanding the reasons behind the lie might actually achieve just that.

I was recently shocked to realize that although I have disliked many people throughout the years by being exposed to certain unfortunate bits of their behavior, I have always ended up nurturing the most positive feelings towards the characters I've met in novels. It goes without saying that not all of these characters were instances of moral virtue and the like. Some of them were quite monstrous, to say the least. But, as part of a  novel, a character is usually presented in its complexity and, as such, the readers do not only witness a string of imperfectly related actions. We also get an insight into the bigger story and, most importantly, into its evolution, together with the reasons and constraints that determine a certain course of events. 

I have many times wondered if I had still liked and felt the same affection for Sarah Woodruff, Rodion Raskolnikov, Severus Snape or Cersei Lannister were I to meet them in real life. Probably not, because I would've certainly ended up mistaking a part for the whole. And what a loss would I had incurred... So, let's turn to you now. Which are your favorite literary villains and what did you learn from your novels?

Why You Don't Have to Be a Transhumanist to Support Unlimited Lifespan Extension

Transhumanism gives many people the chills. Although not all transhumanists hold the very same ideas and fundamental life views, they do share one common desire: that of transcending the human status (in one way or another) and of comfortably settling into a territory that goes beyond the confinements of humanity. According to some views, transhumanists aim at replacing people with some sort of superior entities, the transhumans. This is scary for many because these transhumans are so different from regular human beings that there can be no feeling of collectivity and togetherness between the two groups. Other transhumanist interpretations, however, rely heavily on the idea of speeding up and directing evolution in such a way as to improve humans in some key core capacities. Now it is regular humans like you and me who, in becoming enhanced versions of themselves, might as well be called transhumans.

I will refrain from casting any value judgment on transhumanism in this post. What I want to emphasize is that not everybody embraces transhumanist principles and, moreover, whenever transhumanism backs up a certain set of ideas, those ideas fall into popular disgrace  due to their association to transhumanism. Most likely, there are other elements at play in building up such a reaction, but it is fairly obvious that the status quo bias is in many cases stronger than the desire to transcend humanity.

One area that is strongly associated with transhumanism - up to the point that no transhumanist would fail to support it - is anti-aging and extreme longevity research. Now, you see, as it is not exactly right to judge a person by looking at her parents and family, it is similarly wrong to dismiss the attempt towards unlimited lifespan extension just because it is backed up by some framework that does not correspond to your life views. At the end of the day, unlimited life span extension and transhumanism are not one and the same thing.

Because longevity research is aimed towards protecting people from the horror of death, I take it to be one of the most humanistic endeavors that we have ever pursued throughout our history. Postponing aging and the diseases associated with it is meant to enable humans to flourish and to seek and possibly obtain (if they have enough time) the happiness that derives from their conception of the good life.  It is related to offering autonomy and liberty in making decisions of the utmost importance. It is nothing if not human loving. What can be more humanistic than that?

If you reject the thought of unlimited lifespan extension because you feel that it is too alienated from your definition of a typical human being, please think again. Could it be that the extent of our lifespan is such a crucial element in determining who we are? Or maybe there are other deeper traits that we should take into account, like our capacities for reasoning and feeling such a vast array of emotions? Remember, there was once a first person to live up to 60, 70 or 80 years of age and he/she was still considered a human like all the rest. With one exception, though: a luckier and possibly happier one.

A Manifesto for Survival

If there is one thing we've learned, as a species, throughout our natural history, it's this: the future does not come for free, the future should not be taken for granted and, more than anything else, the future belongs to the fittest! As such, in order for humanity to think about steering the future in one way or another, it firstly needs to fulfill one major prerequisite: secure its tomorrows. Once this goal is accomplished, then we can set our views on the ultimate end game, which I will henceforth address as 'utopias'. While there are no two people alike, I believe that chances are that there is no single utopia. Hence, my preference for its plural form. The final point of all of our efforts should be aimed at creating individually tailored utopias that can somehow coexist even in the presence of contradictions. Although an ambitious goal, the idea of universal happiness, joy and fulfillment is not unattainable in practice. At the very least, think about the wonders of virtual reality technology and imagine for a second how this could help you shape the world of your dreams. According to some, we might be living in a computer simulation anyway, so what difference does it make if we simulate a new world - within the old one - that makes us feel perfectly at ease?

For those of you who are already raising your eyebrows in contempt of the idea of utopian virtual reality and of infamous Nozickian experience machines, I have some good news. This essay is not about paving the road towards the future with virtual blocks; the example of the potential of virtual reality technology is simply to show that, even at this point in time, we have some clear directions that can lead us to utopia. But to get there, first, and to experience the bliss of it all, we need to survive. And this is what I'm going to write about.

I was mentioning earlier that the end game of humanity and the direction towards which it should steer its future is individual utopias. Due to this prominent part that individual well-being plays in my account of the greatest achievement of mankind, I am primarily concerned with individual survival. This piece of writing, which I like to regard as a manifesto, will present in a step-by-step fashion the threats that endanger our survival and will focus on the idea that, in order to have the highest success rate in promoting individual well-being, we should solve our problems in a disciplined and orderly fashion. This said, I would like to propose prioritization as the main algorithm for demolishing the biggest obstacles to our very existence.

First things first

Imagine everything turns out perfectly in your life. If that's the case – and, let's face it, it usually isn't- would you honestly say that your physical integrity and survival are under no threat at all? Probably not. Aging, the silent enemy within, has been wracking havoc in our bodies since the day we could still brag about our wrinkle-free complexions and impressive musculature. Innumerable metabolic processes that are necessary for our well functioning lead, in time, to an accumulated damage that will eventually put a stop to everything we know. Because, at this point, natural death is inescapable for each and every one of us, I consider it the greatest threat to our individual survival and, as such, grant the task of finding a way to escape it the highest level of priority.

Now, let's fast-forward and imagine that we have succeeded in halting and reversing the effects of aging. Are we now safe from dying? Unfortunately, not yet. Even if we can make sure that our bodies are immune from harmful metabolic byproducts, DNA mutations, or hormonal shifts, we cannot control absolutely everything that's going on around us. It might simply be the case that, after visiting your physician for the recommended annual rejuvenation therapy, a brick falls on your head and crushes your skull. What is to be done then and in other similar cases? Depending on many circumstances, accidents may or may not be life threatening. In the high eventuality in which they are, I propose to designate the attempt to protect individual human beings from accident induced death with the second highest level of priority in my scheme of tackling the obstacles to our survival.

If our bodies don't kill us first and if we can actually protect ourselves from other causes of death, are we then safe from physical destruction? Well, not even close. You see, the problem is that - as some moral philosophers have already pointed out - it is so much easier to hurt than to benefit a human being. This thought does not only apply to the behavior of others, but practically to everything that surrounds us. Nature, for one, can be both our friend and our enemy. We need our natural resources in order to survive, but, at the same time, environmental catastrophes have taken many to the grave. In a context in which climate change is starting to represent a serious challenge to humans' well-being, the safe approach is to consider our planet's problems as the third item on our priority list.

Not only the Earth can turn against us, but, according to different theories, the entire universe as well. The death of the universe, as improbable and distant as it might seem right now, represents the last problem that we need to solve in order to guarantee our physical continuity. And, thus, my priority list is complete. Starting from the microscopic processes that keep our bodies fueled and zooming out to the world outside of us, this small four-item list clusters together the dangers that each of us faces in the struggle for survival. In the next lines, I will show that there are paths worthy of being followed for tackling every point on this list. Please, do keep in mind, though, that first things should always come first.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...?

Most certainly not. But it's surely nice to hear. Among the many coping mechanisms that humanity has resorted to in order to be able to tolerate the horrors of death, religion, spirituality and positive folk wisdom occupy the most prominent places. In spite of all this, the thought remains: nonexistence is scary and potentially infinite. If we are brave enough to assume this value judgment, then there is a high chance that we will be able to push the limits of what we know to exotic territories that might end up marveling us altogether. However, in order to reach this blissful land, we need to give up our coping mechanisms, to abandon that comfort zone that perpetuates a self-sabotaging inertia in the fight against the biggest killer of all times.

There are two main directions that have already been shaped in our attempt to conquer the atrocities of natural death. The first one is beautifully illustrated by the field of biogerontology. Gifted researchers, like Aubrey De Grey, Cynthia Kenyon or David Sinclair, just to name a few, have revolutionized the struggle for survival by leading the way towards new rejuvenating possibilities that may indeterminately extend our lifespans. In the gloomy and unlikely eventuality in which this path might fail us, there is another suitable option to consider: the creation of brain-computer interfaces and uploading human brains on machines. Fortunately, this solution can be applied to both natural and accident induced deaths.

Biogerontology can do little for accidental deaths. But, luckily for us, there are many potential courses of action that might shield us from this type of harm. The one that I consider most successful at this point, although it still appears phantasmagorical, is the protection of internal organs through some kind of resistant coating. This can be accompanied by even more stringent layers of defense, such as, for instance, the introduction in the human body of a set of organ-like devices. With the advent of nanotechnology and its success in reducing the size of computer chips, it is not impossible to conceive the existence of nano-robots which, if and when necessary, may take over the functions of our organs and, thus, keep us alive.

Planet Earth and us

Even if we don't suffer from the effects of any environmental catastrophe, human life extension is definitely a variable that can highly impact our relationship with our planet. People living longer and healthier years may easily lead to overpopulation and an over-consumption of natural resources. As putting a cap to all the progress we can make in extending our longevity is out of the question, what remains to be done is to find a way to accommodate these two conflicting sets of needs: ours and our planet's. Fortunately, even as I am writing this essay, there are visionaries out there pointing to the necessity of colonizing the outer space and of working towards the production of some of the machines that are required for such an ambitious enterprise. Stephen Hawking has been raising awareness about the need to find other places in the universe that we might call home for years, while Elon Musk's Space X is making important progress in devising state of the art transportation that might take us to Mars. Also, many other scientists are actively searching for environmentally friendlier ways of producing energy or for degrading waste, So far, many of their results have been truly spectacular.

'Some say the world will end in fire, / Some say in ice.'

For almost one hundred years, Robert Frost has been subtly warning us about the dangers of taking the universe for granted. There are many theories out there revolving around the potential death of the cosmos: the Big Freeze, the heat death, the Big Rip, the Big Crunch or the Big Bounce. We don't actually have bulletproof evidence supporting any of them and it might as well be the case that the universe expands forever. But, in order to be on the safe side, let us consider this obstacle to our individual survival as well.

While we don't know much in this area right now even as to make a safe and accurate prediction about the fate of all the world around us, it goes without saying that we don't have a plan that could help us avoid these gloomy scenarios either. But what we have instead is a recipe for any kind of success: artificial intelligence. At that moment in time when we have solved all of our most urgent problems and when everything that is left to harm us is the destruction of the universe, it is highly likely that we have managed to create safe and effective AI. I'm saying safe and effective because otherwise we would be long wiped out, with no possibility of further worrying about our existence. Hopefully, if the human mind, cognitively enhanced or not, cannot come up with a solution to this quasi unsolvable problem, a fine product of the human mind, AI, might be up for the challenge.

In place of a conclusion: Priorities set straight

I have argued in this essay that the end game of humanity's future is non-exclusive individual utopias and that, in order to get there, we need to guarantee the survival of individual human beings. The perspective that I embrace is that each individual life is truly priceless and worth fighting for, while each unwanted individual death is a cosmic tragedy. In order to secure the chance to reach our own utopias, we need to prioritize the resources and effort invested in keeping us alive. I proposed the following hierarchy of problems:

1. Individual death due to natural causes

2. Individual death induced by accidents

3. Individual death as a result of environmental catastrophes

4. Individual death through the death of the universe

The prioritization of these problems doesn't mean that we only look at one issue at a time and proceed to the next one only after the previous has been solved. If this were the case, then progress would be very much delayed. The type of prioritization that I am embracing here is not absolute, but relative, and it roughly abides by the following rule: dedicate the bulk of all of your resources to the problem that has the highest degree of stringency and make sure that any item on the list gets less than the one preceding it.

Before ending this post, I need to clarify one last point. I am not arguing here for unwanted unlimited human lifespan. What I am proposing, instead, is a world governed and lived under the auspices of unrestricted freedom of choice. Nobody has to live millions of years until the death of the universe might become an issue. But if someone wants to, then it should be up to them to decide. Ultimately, this is what an individual utopia is all about: nothing if not a world of your making!