1: “Let’s say you are a fifty-year-old woman, and you enjoy hiking in the mountains,” Peter Attia MD writes in Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity..
“That’s how you want to spend your retirement.”
Yesterday, we examined the correlation between longevity and our VO2 max, the maximum rate at which our bodies can utilize oxygen.
VO2 max “turns out to be highly correlated with longevity,” Peter … continue reading
That’s one of the questions Peter Attia MD explores in Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.
The answer is a technical one: Peak aerobic cardiorespiratory fitness, measured in terms of VO2 max.
So what exactly is VO2 max? It is the maximum rate at which we can utilize oxygen. The more oxygen our bodies are able to use, the higher our VO2 max.
And how is VO2 max … continue reading
1: What if there was a drug that would reduce our risk of dying by 14 percent?
How popular would that drug be?
The good news is that we don’t have to wait. That drug exists. And it goes by the name “exercise.”
“Going from zero weekly exercise to just ninety minutes per week can reduce your risk of dying from all causes by 14 percent,” Peter Attia, MD … continue reading
1: Making a behavior change requires specific, actionable tactics.
For example, let’s say our goal is to reduce dying in a car accident.
Currently, one person dies every twelve minutes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Peter Attia, MD, writes in Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. .
“What can we do to reduce our risk of dying behind the wheel?” Peter asks. “Is it … continue reading
1: What happens when you make it easy for people to cheat?
Charlie Munger had a friend who owned a manufacturing business in Texas.
“He was in a low-margin, tough business,” Charlie writes in Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Charlie, who died in 2023, was Warren Buffett‘s business partner and the former Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the first non-technology firm in the U.S. to reach a market capitalization … continue reading
1: Marc Schulz has been a professor at a prestigious women’s college for over twenty-five years.
He also serves as Associate Director of The Harvard Study of Adult Development, the world’s longest scientific study of happiness.
Every year, “a new cohort of bright, excited students ask to participate in his research on well-being and how people’s lives evolve across time,” Marc and Robert Waldinger write in their book The … continue reading
1: “When Alan Silva was 14 years old he was in love with the movies,” Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz write in The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.
Alan was one of 456 inner-city Boston boys selected to participate in what became known as the Harvard Study of Adult Development.
“They were children who grew up in some of Boston’s most troubled … continue reading
1: Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz get asked many questions.
Bob and Marc are the Director and Associate Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the world’s longest scientific study of happiness.
People often approach them with worried looks and ask: “If I’m shy and have trouble making friends, is the good life out of reach?”
Or, “If I had a bad childhood, am I just totally screwed?”… continue reading
1: The big thinkers say no.
“Money has never made man happy, nor will it,” Ben Franklin once said.
Centuries before, Aristotle wrote: “The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else.”
More recently, Maya Angelou observed: “Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love … continue reading
