DJ Strouse

My Goodreads Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Biological forms, I have grave news. Our worst fears have been confirmed… the most viable current path to a longer, healthier, and happier life involves vegetables, exercise, sleep, and vitamins. And unlike most roads in the US, there’s not a single McDonalds or Starbucks along the way…

The main thesis of this book is: the human race is pretty damn close to crafting technologies that will overcome our biological shortcomings and allow us to live forever as machine-enhanced androids stuffed with nanobots. However, we still need a few decades to figure this stuff out, so if you stuff your face with meatshakes, eclairs, and potato chips, you and your clogged arteries will just miss the immortality boat and you’ll go down in history as one of those “fat fools who could’ve had thousands of years of interesting things to do but just had to have another Pringle.”

If you’ve already read Fantastic Voyage, much of this will be repetitive. However, whereas Fantastic Voyage focused on providing evidence that immortality might be on our horizon and arguing that a few small lifestyle changes might help you one day join the ranks of the androids, Transcend is the ‘How To’ guide of exactly those changes should be. From baseline testing to supplementation, nutrition, and exercise, with this book’s help you can be a pill-popping, vegetable-chomping gym rat and future android in no time! Much of the nutrition and exercise info can be found in Fantastic Voyage, but I bought this book mostly for the updated info on supplements and the thorough discussion of good baseline tests to run (what’s the point of trying to keep your machine well-oiled if you never check the gauges?).

I suspect I’m the only human being below the age of 50 who will read this book (or who thinks about his “aging” 22-year old body), so I’ll generously offer a CliffNotes version of the book for any young lad or lass passing over this review:

• Drop your candy, packaged snacks, and soda habit (yes, ‘cold turkey’ is quite effective and you’ll be fine in a week)
• Start eating vegetables, beans, nuts, fish, lean meats, eggs, and fruits (just go wild on the veggies; seriously, eat as much as you want)
• …but generally just eat less calories (caloric restriction is the most well-established current method of extending lifespan)
• Exercise daily (sports, jogging, swimming, alligator-wrestling, whatever keeps you excited enough that you can do it for 30-60 minutes)
• Add some strength and flexibility training (~3 times/week should be enough for good hormonal health and stress relief)
• Sleep well and regularly (amount varies by person but if you need an alarm to wake up, that’s a good sign you’re not sleeping enough)
• Have sex or masturbate 2-3 times a week (not that you need the encouragement, but it’s good for your hormonal health)
• Take a multivitamin, fish oil, and vitamin D
• Take vacations, talk with friends and family often, get a hobby, try meditation, and make time for the things you enjoy (all work and no play makes Jack a depressed, diabetic heart transplant candidate)
• Get periodic physicals and nutritional tests to ensure all of the above is actually doing something

Congratulations! If you do all of the above, I look forward to mind-melding, exploring augmented reality, and not having diabetes with you in our android futures! (If not, I’m sorry. You will die.)

View all Goodreads my reviews >>

Tags:   health · immortality · singularity · transhumanism2 Comments