Would You Want To Live To Age 152 If You Could?

IS THE TERM “OLD” or “OLD AGE” RELATIVE TO OUR CIRCUMSTANCES? If you could live to the ripe age of 152, would you wish to do it? Today, we’ll take a look at some of the latest aging and longevity research and see how possible this actually may be.

✅Key Points in This Episode
[00:00]  Welcome to the Genesis Zone Show with Dr Brian Brown
[00:57]  How do you define old age?
[03:33]  What is ageism and how does it work?
[04:30]  Youthfulness is a state of mind not an appearance.
[08:24]  The Shoulder Generation
[10:42]  The Oldest human on record
[15:38]  What would you do if you could live to 100?

👉Connect with Dr Brian Brown, the Moody Brain Expert
🌎https://DrBrianGBrown.com
👍https://www.facebook.com/drbriangbrown
IG:@drbriangbrown
LinkedIn: @company/dr-brian-g-brown

🧬Find more information about genetics, epigenetics and how they impact your overall health and performance🧬 in Dr Brian's FREE Master Class on Gene Hacking https://drbriangbrown.com/genehack/bootcamp

Transcript

 ITZ_EP114_Would You Want To Live To Age 152 If You Could?

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

age,  aging, ageism, longevity, youthfulness, baby boomer, retire, society, gen xers, emphasis, perceptions, contribute,  older,  generation, gen x, live longer

Dr Brian G Brown  00:55

The Mission is simple: to help high achievers naturally eliminate emotional and physical obstacles, so they can optimize their life for higher achievement. 

Welcome, you just entered the Genesis zone. Good day, and welcome to the Genesis zone show. This is Dr. Brian Brown. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us on this Thursday morning. 

Would you want to live to age 152? If you could I mean, that's the title of today's show. It's a great question. Is the term older, old age relative to our circumstances? I mean, if you could live to the ripe old age of 152, would you even wish to do it? Today we'll take a look at some of the latest Aging and Longevity research and see how possible this actually may be. 

So, we're talking about aging, right, and longevity? Did you know that in ancient Rome, they listed the maximum lifespan to be somewhere between 100 and 110 years of age. You know, it's fairly common to hear people use words like old or old age, in their everyday conversation. I personally don't like those terms, because I think that those terms are relative. I mean, really and truly define old Methuselah from the Bible was 969 years old when he died. Now that to me, sounds old. 

But 53,63, 73, 103, are those ages really old and today's standards? I think it depends on the person. And I think it depends on their individual circumstances, which really makes the concept of old or old age relative to those circumstances. 

Now, people's perceptions about Aging and Longevity can vary widely. Some people view it as a remarkable achievement and a sign of good health,

 while others may see it as a burden or a sign of decline. 

I mean, living a long and prosperous life can be seen as a testament to one's resilience, good health and positive lifestyle habits. 

Now, I've found that many people view those who are aging, or shall we say, more mature as a source of inspiration, and I admire their wisdom and life experiences. But those are the people I hang out with. On the other hand, there are those who view old age or aging as a burden. I don't like hanging around those people. Some of these people even go so far as to believe that growing older or aging causes the aging person to be a burden to their families, or society in general. 

Concept of Aging

Now, the truth is the concept of aging. And our societal, as well as our personal beliefs about aging are influenced by a range of factors including cultural beliefs, personal experiences, and individual attitudes towards Aging and Longevity. 

And some instances this means ageism, can come into play. Now, what do I mean by ageism? If you're not familiar with the term, it's simply when someone holds a negative stereotype about aging and older adults, including their beliefs that they're frail or forgetful and unable to contribute to society. And ageism, no matter which way you turn, it can lead to discrimination and exclusion of older adults in various aspects of life. 

Now, similarly, there seems to be a cultural emphasis on the importance of youthfulness and physical appearance in the United States. I mean, just look at tiktoc, Facebook, Instagram, and you'll see what I mean. There's way too much emphasis here. And the last time I checked these, quote unquote, influencers on TikTok Instagram and Facebook, will one day be older themselves, but they don't see it. And part of me believes that, when that day comes, they're not going to be able to handle it. That's just me. 

Unfortunately, this unhealthy emphasis on youthfulness and appearance can lead to the marginalization of the aging population, because the society conveys that those who are aging do not fit its ideal of youthfulness. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for throwing self-care out the window. On the contrary, I'm just saying that we should learn to love ourselves where we are and how we are, we should be on a journey to self-care, towards self-love, and towards self-improvement and embrace that journey.

Regardless of whether it fits the societal mores of the day, which in today's age happens to be this over emphasis on youthfulness. And while we're on the subject, most of the people I know over age 50, like myself, who have already started receiving AARP material in the mail, let's just face it, it's one of those things, we feel more useful today than we did when we were in our 20s. Now I'm not speaking for every single one of us, but the people I hang around with who are my age, we look at each other and say, Man, we feel better, we feel more youthful than we did when we were in our 20s. 

So, I say all of this to prove that youthfulness, as is a state of mind, not a Barbie doll or Ken doll appearance.

Now, here's the good news. There's an emphasis on healthy aging, and preventive care in the United States, when it comes to the aging population among the aging population. And many aging adults like myself are taking an active role in maintaining their health and wellness, and really investing in that journey. Now, awareness of the possibilities outside traditional Western medicine has certainly been trending upward for the past few years. And in the past year and a half, it's really just exploded. If you look at the actual numbers, the economics of this industry, just the biohacking industry alone, the numbers have gone up at least 40%. 

As far as gross annual revenue, just in the past two years, that's huge. Those numbers are huge. So that means more and more people are taking interest in this. And the fortunate or unfortunate thing, however you want to look at it is that people who are in the Gen X, Baby Boomer generation, they have more expendable income to be able to spend on these types of things. So that's where the bulk of the economic growth is actually coming from. 

So why is there this increased interest outside of traditional medicine towards longevity or pursuing longevity? Well, quite frankly, you have baby boomers and what I call actually not me, I can't take credit for it. A really good friend of mine who works specifically with the baby boomer population for financial literacy and economic growth. She calls us who are Gen Xers, but we're right there on the cusp of the baby boom generation. She called us the Shoulder Generation. Because if you look at Gen Xers, Gen Xers are kind of divided into three separate groups within that time span. But those of us who are really close to the baby boomer age range, or your cut off,  she's calling us the shoulder generation of Gen X population. 

But people who fit that baby boomer shoulder generation of the Gen X population, like myself, we're more financially stable than other generational segments. We're more driven now than we've ever been in life. And in business since certainly in our wellness goals and especially our longevity goals. And we are very well read and educated about the limitless and kind of growing opportunities and possibilities available to help us live longer and more productive and healthy lives. 

Outlive the 2 Generations Behind Us

And when we add to this our innate tenacity and an impeccable adaptability to circumstances that are constantly fluid. And you have a recipe for two generations of people who will likely outlive the generations behind us. And I would add, we're going to outlive the generations behind us with gusto. And we're going to be in much better health, as we live longer than the generations that are coming up. I don't say that with pride. But I do say that as a fact.

Dr Brian G Brown  10:37

I mean, if you look at health statistics, in general, my generation alone, not even including the Baby Boomer generation, but just the Gen X generation. And if you include baby boomers in this, it's huge. We are poised to outlive our children and our children's children. 

Why is that?  I don't know. 

-I think maybe because there's too much emphasis in certain areas versus others.

-I think maybe because we have become a sedentary society. 

-I think maybe because we become a more carbohydrate, heavy society. 

And we have to take all of these things into consider into consideration. 

-And when I say carbohydrates, I mean processed carbohydrates, processed foods, sugars, things like that. 

So, at the top of the show, I mentioned Methuselah from the Bible who died at 969 years of age. Now sadly, the Guinness World Book of Records doesn't recognize Methuselah. They tell us that the oldest living human on record is Jeanne Calment, from France who lived to the age of 122 years, and 164 days. Now, it's from the starting point that I bring you today's research insights on longevity, as the researchers mentioned, Jeanne Calment, it's amazing feat of living to 122 years of age. 

Now, the paper that I reviewed for today's shows, is really discussing a hypothesis. And it's more of a hypothesis proposal. Now, just to shorten, because it's a very long paper. To give you the short highlights of this. Even though the scientists agree that there have been very little changes in the upper age limits, in those who live to be over 100 years old. Over the past 300 or 400 years. They agree that based on ancient historical text and current human genetics, modern humans haven't reached the limits of the upper age limits as we know them right now. 

They go on to postulate that humans could easily live 30 years longer than Jeanne Calment of France who died at 122. And that would put us somewhere in the range of 150 years old. I mean, think about that for a minute, would you even want to live to be 150 years old? And if you did live to be 150 years old? What would you even do? I mean, think about it, if we're poised to outlive our children and our children's children, then what do we do with ourselves? 

Well, I have to tell you, I don't have any 100-year-old clients, but I do have the bulk of my clients who are 50 and older, older, and many are well past retirement age. And in fact, I have a lot of clients who are in their 70s and extremely active. Now the interesting thing is, I've seen that these people who are past this retirement age, are very active professionals and executive types who have zero interest and being turned out to pasture quote, unquote. And they just don't, they don't want to do that. They want to continue to see patients, they want to continue working with clients, they want to continue running companies, and they're doing it very, very successfully. Now, they're like little Energizer bunnies, who just keep going and going and going. But most of all, they love what they're doing. They have the energy to do it, they have the mental clarity to do it. They have the stamina and endurance to do it. And they have little interest in stopping anytime soon. 

Now my hat goes off to my clients in this category, this post retirement age category that just keep going not because they have to, but because they want to and they feel like they're actually contributing more to society now than they did when they were younger. 

Then I kind of self-reflected and asked myself, What will I do when it's time to retire? And then the automatic thought kind of floods in that this word retirement is actually foreign to me. I don't think I'll ever fully retire as we know it in the traditional sense of the word by the traditional definition. And I think that's where many people that I work with who were over age 50, we kind of fit in that same category. We're like, do I even really want to fully retire? I think the answer for most of us is no. 

Now will we be doing exactly what we're doing now? Maybe we will. Maybe we won't. Maybe we'll, reskill and learn something new and do something totally different, which is totally fine. But like many of my clients, I love being active, it keeps me alive, it keeps me youthful. 

Plus, I feel like I have more to contribute now than I ever have in my entire life. At nearly 54 years old, I'll be 54 here in a couple of months. I feel like I'm just now as though old older people would say no pun intended. “Coming into my own”. I just really feel like I'm coming into my own right now at 54. 

Now, in the comments below, I have a favor. I would like for you, because I'm really curious. This is a curiosity thing, because I want to see where other people stand in the comments below. Whether you're watching this on YouTube, whether you're watching this on Facebook, it doesn't matter. Or you're listening to the podcast, you can direct message me if that's the case. But I want you to tell me what your plans will be or what you perceive them to be. Once you get past that retirement age, and then what that would look like if you knew you could live a healthy life over age 100. I think it's important for us to start hearing what each of us has to say. Because I think sometimes, we think our thoughts are foreign, when we think I don't want to retire. And we look around us and we see validation after validation of people who are retiring. 

But yet, the more we kind of move through life, we meet other people that have no interest in retirement, they have every interest in continuing to contribute to society. And helping people as best they can. And they have a lot to contribute. So, they want to do that. And I'm curious to see how many other people out there think like this or don't think like this. It's okay. Seriously, I'm just curious. 

So, if you will just leave in the comments below what your perceptions are, what you think you'll do when it comes time to retire? And if you knew you could live past 100 and live a healthy life. What would you do past 100? 

You know, so that's all I've got for today. I wanted to bring this topic to us. Talk about longevity, talk about aging, talk about perceptions around it, wrong perceptions, ageism, I think those are things we really have to be in tune with as we move forward, advancing into this new age that we're in where things are advancing at such a rapid rate. And I'm not just talking about health and wellness and biohacking. I'm talking about technology and just information in general, we're being inundated with so much. And it does it affects us; it affects us one way or the other. And I think it actually changes our thinking. 

But I just want to know just kind of take a poll of like where everybody is out there. When it comes to this concept or these perceptions around aging. I know many in my listening audience are over age 40 At minimum, most of us are over age 50. 

And like I said, I'm just curious, most informed, most trusted and most grateful that you spent this time with us today. Until next time, stay in the zone. I'm Dr. Brian Brown.