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Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Medical Roundup #2, published by Zvi on April 9, 2024 on LessWrong.
Previously: #1
It feels so long ago that Covid and health were my beat, and what everyone often thought about all day, rather than AI. Yet the beat goes on. With Scott Alexander at long last giving us what I expect to be effectively the semi-final words on the Rootclaim debate, it seemed time to do this again.
Bad News
I know no methodical way to find a good, let alone great, therapist.
Cate Hall: One reason it's so hard to find a good therapist is that all the elite ones market themselves as coaches.
As a commentor points out, therapists who can't make it also market as coaches or similar, so even if Cate's claim is true then it is tough.
My actual impression is that the elite therapists largely do not market themselves at all. They instead work on referrals and reputation. So you have to know someone who knows. They used to market, then they filled up and did not have to, so they stopped. Even if they do some marketing, seeing the marketing copy won't easily differentiate them from other therapists. There are many reasons why our usual internet approach of reviews is mostly useless here.
Even with AI, I am guessing we currently lack enough data to give you good recommendations from feedback alone.
Good News, Everyone
American life expectancy rising again, was 77.5 years (+1.1) in 2022.
Bryan Johnson, whose slogan is 'Don't Die,' continues his quest for eternal youth, seen here trying to restore his joints. Mike Solana interviews Bryan Johnson about his efforts here more generally. The plan is to not die via two hours of being studied every day, what he finds is ideal diet, exercise and sleep, and other techniques and therapies including bursts of light and a few supplements.
I wish this man the best of luck. I hope he finds the answers and does not die, and that this helps the rest of us also not die.
Alas, I am not expecting much. His concept of 'rate of aging' does not strike me as how any of this is likely to work, nor does addressing joint health seem likely to much extend life or generalize. His techniques do not target any of the terminal aging issues. A lot of it seems clearly aimed at being healthy now, feeling and looking younger now. Which is great, but I do not expect it to buy much in the longer term.
Also one must note that the accusations in the responses to the above-linked thread about his personal actions are not great. But I would not let that sully his efforts to not die or help others not die.
I can't help but notice the parallel to AI safety. I see Johnson as doing lots of mundane health work, to make himself healthier now. Which is great, although if that's all it is then the full routine is obviously a bit much. Most people should do more of such things. The problem is that Johnson is expecting this to translate into defeating aging, which I very much do not expect.
Gene therapy cures first case of congenital deafness. Woo-hoo! Imagine what else we could do with gene therapies if we were 'ethically' allowed to do so. It is a sign of the times that I expected much reaction to this to be hostile both on the 'how dare you mess with genetics' front and also the 'how dare you make someone not deaf' front.
The Battle of the Bulge
A 'vaccine-like' version of Wegovy is on the drawing board at Novo Nordisk (Stat+). If you are convinced you need this permanently it would be a lot cheaper and easier in this form, but this is the kind of thing you want to be able to reverse, especially as technology improves. Consider as parallel, an IUD is great technology but would be much worse if you could not later remove it.
The battle can be won, also Tracy Morgan really was playing Tracy Morgan when he played Tracy Morgan.
Page Six: Tracy Morgan says he 'gained 40 pounds' on weight-loss drugs: I ...
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