The Longevity Imperative: Redefining the Way We Age

a16z Podcast

a16z

Science, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneurship, Culture, Disruption, Software Eating The World, Technology

4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the biggest challenge of our time isn’t living longer, but living better? In this episode, we’re tackling one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments—and perhaps its most overlooked challenge: longevity. As more people live past 100, our systems—healthcare, finance, career planning, and even our cultural perceptions of aging—need a fundamental overhaul. We’re joined by Dr. Andrew Scott, author of The Longevity Imperative, and Vijay Pande a16z’s Bio & Health general partner, to explore how a shift from “sick care” to “health care” could transform our lives. Together, we discuss the implications of longer lifespans, from the individual choices that can improve our healthspans to the economic and societal shifts required to sustain a healthier, more productive aging society. Join us as we reimagine the future of aging, where living to 100 can be more than survival—it can be a life well-lived.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're keeping people alive, you're not keeping them healthy.
0:04.0	The view that medicine starts with disease is part of the problem because it should start with health.
0:10.0	One in five, one in six Brits are meant to live to 100 according to the government.
0:14.0	How do you finance that?
0:16.0	Is your 401 K set for you to live to 100?
0:19.0	People age really, really diversely.
0:22.4	And you can be 100 and literally running 100 meters.
0:25.2	You can look at it on YouTube, or you can be 50 and in a wheelchair.
0:29.0	And instead of this being a crisis, it could be the greatest accomplishment of humanity.
0:34.7	Let's start this episode with a thought experiment.
0:40.6	What would you do if you knew you were going to die today?
0:50.1	And what would you do if it were impossible to die today? I'd bet that's separate from the outcomes, that those days would look pretty different.
0:56.3	Because probabilities guide our decisions. And that is the premise of today's conversation.
1:02.0	We as humans have extended the aging curve, meaning we are probabilistically living longer,
1:08.4	and a whole lot longer. In 1965, the most common age of death was in the first year in the UK.
1:13.3	Now that's flipped to 87. And contrary to popular belief,
1:19.3	we are still extending lifespan. So what happens when the calculus is no longer avoiding dying young, but perhaps striving to live extremely old? Plus, what is the life worth? And how does
1:26.4	this impact our society, not just in the health system, but the financial sector, career planning, and even direct design?
1:33.2	Joining us to discuss exactly this are Dr. Andrew Scott, author of The Longevity Imperative, a book published earlier this year, alongside founding general partner of A16B by own health, VJ Ponte.
1:45.3	Let's get to it.
1:48.8	As a reminder, the content here is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice,
1:55.7	or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any A16C fund.
	...

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