Anti-Aging Mortals & The Everlasting God

ICYMI

• There was a “conspiracy of silence” surrounding Joe Biden’s cognitive decline.

A Sign You Need Jesus

46 year old tech entrepreneur Brian Johnson “has spent millions on a viral self-experiment to age as little as possible—one that involves a regimen of dozens of daily powders and pills, gene therapies and more.”

• “It’s not just about personal health, but it’s really about don’t die,” says Johnson, whose company Blueprint sells hoodies and hats bearing the words: ‘Don’t Die.’ He also sells supplements, olive oil and a powdered version of the vegan, gluten-free “nutty pudding” that he says he eats daily.” 

• Bad News for Brian

  • “The life of mortals is like grass,
        they flourish like a flower of the field;
    the wind blows over it and it is gone,
        and its place remembers it no more.” (Psalm 103:15-16)

• Good News for Brian (and us, too)

  • “But from everlasting to everlasting
        the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
        and his righteousness with their children’s children—” (Psalm 103:17)

Articles

• First up, the best article on C.S. Lewis I’ve ever read.

• Axios declares this “the most difficult moment ever” for media organizations.

• The research is in: Excessive internet use among teenagers is “associated with altered brain connectivity”

Paywall

• Communication has eclipsed creativity as the signature skill for modern work. (The Atlantic)

• A new Cambridge University Press book argues that Secular naturalism is “Protestantism on steroids.” (Christianity Today)

• Four Science-based strategies for healthy snacking. (WSJ)

• Non-violent Palestinian Christians are working for peace in the West Bank. (NYT)

• Why does gambling seem to be everywhere? (The Atlantic)

Data

• Social Changes

  • When Title IX was introduced to promote gender equality in education in 1972, there was a 13 percent gap in the proportion of bachelor’s degrees going to men compared to women. By 2019, the gender gap in bachelor awards was 15 points wider than in 1972 — but the other way around.

  • 45 percent of young adults aged 18 to 29 live with their parents—making it the most common living arrangement for that age group for the first time since just after the Great Depression.

  • 54% of 18-year-olds in 2020 said they wanted to do their best in their job “even if this sometimes means working overtime.” By 2022, only 36% said that — an all-time low in the 46-year history of the survey.

• Compared to omnivores (i.e., people who eat meat), vegetarians are 23% less likely to give birth to a boy. (source) 

• The top 5 regrets that people share on their deathbeds (source):

  • “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

  • “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”

  • “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”

  • “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”

  • “I wish I had let myself be happier.”