Edward Thorp on longevity
minimize chances of bad outcomes + exercise + diet
Edward Thorp on longevity:
The goal is to have a long life that’s also a healthy, productive one. As opposed to being in assisted living somewhere.
I want such a life. I want to be active until the last minute and be dead.
So what to do? Two things:
- defense: minimize chances of bad outcomes which includes regular check-ups
- offense: exercise + diet
I think of it as having two parts. One I’ll call defense, in which you minimize the chance of really bad outcomes of one sort or another. And you try to eliminate weak links. It just takes one weak link to finish you off.
This leads to proactive defenses like regular checkups or vaccinations and managing overall risks.
On offense, exercise is one of the magic bullets. The evidence is that if you exercise a moderate amount, you can probably add half a dozen years to your expected life span.
Two types of exercises:
My exercise has two parts. It’s aerobic, and it’s strength building. So I spend some time walking or maybe an occasional short jog. And then I spend time in the gym just building strength, particularly core strength. I can do two chin-ups and 15 pushups. Not a lot, but still pretty good for 91.
And then there’s diet. What one eats makes a huge difference.
From rest of the article:
- Think for yourself. Don't err too much in the way of accepting authority and believing what’s being said, even if it isn’t properly vetted and properly executed research.
- If there are lot of upside, but also lot of downside, wait for other's experiments