So this is a difficult question, mostly because I was extremely into what he was doing when I first learned about blue print. So first off let's not confuse Bryan Johnson with Brian Johnson (the liver king) who absolutely was a fraud, because he was doing a lot of illegal stuff to get jacked and pawning it off as his own work outs and diet. So Blueprint Bryan Johnson has similar claims related to diet and workouts, but he has documented everything he did and shared all his measurements. And I was fully on board, until I took a step back after he started coming out with a bunch of products. He also complains openly about being in the food business even though this was a completely "optional" decision. Right? I think the path Bryan has taken has been the long game, which is really odd for someone who is a fraud. Because normally fraudsters have the solution before they fully identify the problem. Bryan went through the steps to fully identify the problem and develop a solution. Even though the general population has never asked for it. But now he has become a salesmen for his product. In the preceeding 2 or 3 years, Bryan was developing the methodology to increase life span or more accurately decreasing his aging rate, based on the Dunedin Pace method. His company now also sells a test that will tell you your aging rate, convenient. So he is a fraud for selling things that he has developed a market for? Not really, at least in my opinion. Eating well, exercising and sleep are all things everyone should try and optimize for themselves so that we can all be our best version. That being said, tying it all to longevity maybe a stretch.
But is he a charlatan? I think the answer to this is more likely yes, even though part of the definition says fraud. Maybe intellectually dishonest is more fitting? Now everything he has espoused has been positive for the most part. He does disparage other products or chocolates that don't do the same rigorous testing that he does, which is fair, but keep in mind he wants you to buy his stuff even if he says he does or it doesn't matter. I keep coming back to the issues he had with his ex-girl friend. Basically she got cancer, he kicked her out because "it was bad for the brand", and she sued because they had a working relationship. Now Bryan won the case, but there have been some shady accounts of what happened in this relationship and maybe in some of his business dealings as well. All of this is just alleged at this point as I have no dog in the fight so aren't willing to dig too deep here. But Bryan is someone who dropped out of the Church (mormon or LDS) and I believe that was close to when he hit the big payday when he sold Venmo to paypal ~ 2013ish. Not too big of an issue there, sometimes people go through things and find themselves, but if you don't have guiding principles like a religious backing, then how do you base the dealings with other people in in your personal life? Are you being an honest good person just because? The crazy thing is there is basically zero mention of his first wife or 2 of his kids on the internet. You would think someone that famous, that rich, would have a digital imprint somewhere of who he was married to or who is kids are. But oddly not this guy. Not the guy who has spent the last 2-3 years building an influencer base, doing tons of interviews, making a bunch of videos. Nope, I guess no one cares or she is so smart she has stayed out of the public eye. I find it odd that no one has attempted to interview her and get her thoughts on Bryan's transition, especially since he divorced her when there were still 3 kids at home. And that is where the intellectual dishonesty comes in. Why does someone that wants to share so much with everyone have these deep secrets that are never discussed or discussed only by him in in seemingly positive circumstance for how he was able to break free and improve himself?
I'm gradually coming to the conclusion that everyone in the "Longevity Space" is selling something and being intellectually dishonest to some point. It is less about being altruistic and helping people and more about making money. That is a sad reality for something that I had such high hopes for. People have always been on the search for the fountain of youth and that is what makes things seem so promising when someone proclaims to have something. The bad thing is, even if the stuff Bryan is doing works and guarantees him another 50 years or more of life, I won't see it. I won't be able to sit there and say "I told you so" because I'll be gone before it. So how do we get people on the same page and doing the "right things". Not sure, because in the end I don't know what the "right things" are, because it is hard to know what to trust. I think that the first step, honestly, is just acknowledging that there isn't one way to do things or you have to live a life where 8-10 hours of the day are dedicated to living longer, because what are you adding at that point. More days where a third or half of you time is filled doing menial tasks to keep you alive? Some people would say that isn't living, but I think there is a happy medium. In the last year, I have changed my diet, started taking supplements and increased my activity level to the point where I am probably in the best shape of my life (maybe not thinnest, but strongest and fastest). I think that is the real goal, to improve health span, even if we can't improve life span. We should want to be as strong and flexible as we can be for as long as possible, so that we can retain our independence and take care of ourselves. I hated watching my mom, waste away at the end of her life and gradually succumbing to an infection. She was in pretty good shape until around 91 and things went down hill pretty fast, then it was a difficult 4 years. So what is a good life span? 95% of your life, 98%, 99%? I would say Mom was at about 93-94% and that is out of 95 years. Now the bad news is that her savings was gone in a little over 2 years of that difficult living, so there are financial things to tackle as well as health. But the better you feel and move the longer you can be on your own, the more you can travel and do things in retirement and ultimately the more fun you can have.
So my final conclusion is this, I think Bryan Johnson has done some things to pinpoint the goals for improving health span, which is kind of the old trope of eat right and exercise. But he has also added sleep and hitting certain supplements. I think Bryan had a plan all along to make a saleable product and after a lot of guerilla style marketing of himself and his protocols he has something he can cash in on. Is it the end all be all? Doubtful. He could be right, but me and the people criticizing his methods will never be around to get called out for being wrong. I think he has been a little disingenuous with his true motives and recently the things that have come out about him make me question who's interests he really has in mind (his or the human condition). Kudos to him though for working the last 4 years and getting into incredible shape, that at least provides hope for people that have made it to 40 without doing a whole lot that they can turn it around and get healthy. I think trying to be healthy does cost something, be it time or money, but I can't look at what he is pushing and say that if you want to live longer it is the only way. There was a woman that did his program for 180 days and her aging went from 0.93 to 0.95. It actually went up and she did the whole thing. Not the most promising result. I haven't followed him exactly, but I have improved over the last year. I think the important thing is to balance improvement with actually living life, that would be my only advice. Try and be the best you can, but don't sacrifice everything around you for some selfish goal. The idea is to work hard enough to be of value to someone else and give back to others. Best of luck and strive for progress, not perfection.
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