About a year ago, I decided I wanted to live to the ripe old age of 150. Sounds crazy right??? Well, I’ve been listening to lots of different sources that have lead me to believe that isn’t so far fetched. I was listening to the podcast: Exponential Wisdom with Peter Diamandis. If you have never listened to Peter talk, you really need to check out this podcast (and then check out his books Abundance, Bold and the Future is Faster than you Think). Peter is so insanely optimistic about the future that he has aspirations of living to 700. (that makes my 150 seems a lot more plausible ha ha ha). But why should I be able to live that long? well, if you make smart choices, it could be any of us. The concept all comes down to convergence. This is a common theme that Peter keeps talking about, and it makes sense. What does convergence mean? and why does it have anything to do with living past 100? and even if I live that long, I don’t want to be some bed-ridden lump of flesh… I only want to live that long if I can maintain my current health, mental faculties, etc… I know… the idea of 150 does sound ridiculous…
Well, here is why I believe it is possible. The idea of convergence simply means that so many different technologies are advancing at a crazy rate, and they are building on one another. Take this simple example (that is already several years old). Sebastian Thrun was able to make a smart phone app that is more accurate at detecting skin cancer than some of the best doctors that have been doing it as a high paid career. If you aren’t familiar with Mr. Thrun, he is part of the team that made the self driving car (now in the Smithsonian) that was able to complete the DARPA Grand Challenge. So what does someone that made a car drive by itself have to do with skin cancer??? Well, the simple answer is big data + machine learning. With the advances in machine learning, combined with the ever increasing amount of labeled data, he was able to build a model that the average person could take a picture with their phone and have instant results to tell you “You are fine”, or “Please see a doctor for further analysis”. Now, if a simple app could do that, imagine what happens when you start combining this sort of technology into pharmaceuticals, reading CT scans, MRI’s, etc.. And that is just the beginning. 3D imaging keeps getting better, nanotechnology, and coming soon personalized medicine.
For example, 6 months ago I took a test from a company called Viome. they take a small blood sample and stool sample and are able to quickly return a list of dietary recommendations to improve your health. I really do feel better since simply skipping some foods and adding others based on my tests (and I instantly notice when I eat the wrong foods). Now just eating a little better by itself isn’t going to add decades to my life… but if I went the next step and starting taking supplements specifically for me, that could take me to the next level…
And these are just some of the little things available today… Technology is truly moving forward at an exponential pace. Even if we are at a level where technology moves fast enough to add 1 day of life every day… theoretically, you could live forever 🙂 Now, I don’t want to live forever, but I do want to see the year 2100. And with the way things are progressing, I don’t see why I won’t be able to and still be good physical and mental health (as long as I don’t do too many stupid things. LOL).
So… there is some food for thought.
Thanks for reading.
As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our SAP Service Management Products at my other company JaveLLin Solutions,Mike