17 replies to this topic

[Mr. Jingles]

I hope this is not too off-topic here; I saw no forum that looked like a perfect fit.

I have seen several pieces in the news media regarding longevity. Unfortunately, the coverage has either negative (against longevity) or misinformative. Take this recent piece from Good Morning America on ABC News:

Fountain of Youth: Chinese Valley Brings Long Life
http://gmy.news.yaho...0614_gma_kerley

If anyone is interested in preserving this video, please capture the above video stream and post a more permanent link. I would do it myself, but I am using public terminals to access the Internet these days.

The story above was branded "China's Fountain of Youth" on "Good Morning Yahoo!".

These days, news anchors will often feign ignorance, and even stupidity, when reporting on any social issue. The writers clearly know what they are talking about, however, because they made sure to debunk alkalinized water by stating that a possible reason for the local longevity is the water, which is naturally low in alkaline. They also made sure to use terms like "fountain of youth" and "magic", and even references to ancient Chinese quackery (herbal "medicine") and... wait for it... snake oil. (They didn't say it was oil, per se, but they strongly emphasized that they drink a tonic made from snakes.) All of these things, in my opinion, would make a reasonable person reject the idea that environmental factors can affect life expectancy.

The one grain of truth was the bit about genetics playing the major role. Yet they seemed to go out of their way to avoid talking about anything that would upset their sponsors, such as a diet without fast food, food additives and highly processed foods, or possibly reduced levels of certain toxins, pesticides and industrial wastes.

So what do you think? Should there be a thread about how the media portrays living longer than 100?

Edited by Mr. Jingles, 16 June 2009 - 03:39 PM.

[brokenportal]

They are catching on, slowly but surely. Like Ghandi said, "First they laugh at you, then they resist you, then they fight you, then you win."

Even negative exposure is good exposure. It is getting people thinking about this stuff, and many many of them will come to the right conclusions on their own, and support this. The more they think about this the more they will be googling it, etc...

This morning on the view I saw Barbara Walters talking about how a resveratrol company has put her face on a quote by some doctor in support of it. She was saying how she didnt like that and she wants them to take it off, that they associate her with it because she did the longevity special that mentioned resveratrol. It was interesting to see these small emerging connections with the cause to television. It was especially interesting to see that connection in the light that I was only watching the View in order to catch Minds weather report in the commercials.

The cause is spreading. This isnt neccessarily negative press we see here and there as much as it is the cause pushing through and getting ready to fully explode into the media.

[Dmitri]

They are catching on, slowly but surely. Like Ghandi said, "First they laugh at you, then they resist you, then they fight you, then you win."

Even negative exposure is good exposure. It is getting people thinking about this stuff, and many many of them will come to the right conclusions on their own, and support this. The more they think about this the more they will be googling it, etc...

This morning on the view I saw Barbara Walters talking about how a resveratrol company has put her face on a quote by some doctor in support of it. She was saying how she didnt like that and she wants them to take it off, that they associate her with it because she did the longevity special that mentioned resveratrol. It was interesting to see these small emerging connections with the cause to television. It was especially interesting to see that connection in the light that I was only watching the View in order to catch Minds weather report in the commercials.

The cause is spreading. This isnt neccessarily negative press we see here and there as much as it is the cause pushing through and getting ready to fully explode into the media.

It seems like it's spreading very slowly though. After life extension discussion on Barbara Walters, Oprah and Paul and Meredith going on many shows to promote their CR book with millions of viewers I'm surprised not that many people have found imminst or LEF yet (the memberships are still quite low as are the registered members).

[bacopa]

They are catching on, slowly but surely. Like Ghandi said, "First they laugh at you, then they resist you, then they fight you, then you win."

Even negative exposure is good exposure. It is getting people thinking about this stuff, and many many of them will come to the right conclusions on their own, and support this. The more they think about this the more they will be googling it, etc...

This morning on the view I saw Barbara Walters talking about how a resveratrol company has put her face on a quote by some doctor in support of it. She was saying how she didnt like that and she wants them to take it off, that they associate her with it because she did the longevity special that mentioned resveratrol. It was interesting to see these small emerging connections with the cause to television. It was especially interesting to see that connection in the light that I was only watching the View in order to catch Minds weather report in the commercials.

The cause is spreading. This isnt neccessarily negative press we see here and there as much as it is the cause pushing through and getting ready to fully explode into the media.

It seems like it's spreading very slowly though. After life extension discussion on Barbara Walters, Oprah and Paul and Meredith going on many shows to promote their CR book with millions of viewers I'm surprised not that many people have found imminst or LEF yet (the memberships are still quite low as are the registered members).

Yeah this scares me too. I still don't get it. What's there not to love about ending aging? There needs to be more research in the field and we need more people to promote it. The contacting VIP project is underway and you can find that in the projects and ideas forum if you want to help.

They are catching on, slowly but surely. Like Ghandi said, "First they laugh at you, then they resist you, then they fight you, then you win."

Even negative exposure is good exposure. It is getting people thinking about this stuff, and many many of them will come to the right conclusions on their own, and support this. The more they think about this the more they will be googling it, etc...

This morning on the view I saw Barbara Walters talking about how a resveratrol company has put her face on a quote by some doctor in support of it. She was saying how she didnt like that and she wants them to take it off, that they associate her with it because she did the longevity special that mentioned resveratrol. It was interesting to see these small emerging connections with the cause to television. It was especially interesting to see that connection in the light that I was only watching the View in order to catch Minds weather report in the commercials.

The cause is spreading. This isnt neccessarily negative press we see here and there as much as it is the cause pushing through and getting ready to fully explode into the media.

It seems like it's spreading very slowly though. After life extension discussion on Barbara Walters, Oprah and Paul and Meredith going on many shows to promote their CR book with millions of viewers I'm surprised not that many people have found imminst or LEF yet (the memberships are still quite low as are the registered members).

Yeah this scares me too. I still don't get it. What's there not to love about ending aging? There needs to be more research in the field and we need more people to promote it. The contacting VIP project is underway and you can find that in the projects and ideas forum if you want to help.

[niner]

The Good Morning America story sounds like pretty horrible coverage, with so much talk about fraud and whatnot. That said, I've really seen longevity creeping into the mainstream. This can only continue as it becomes more real. At some point, there will be some overwhelming evidence, probably in mice, and then there will be an avalanche of interest. Resveratrol may have been the first glimpse of that. So far that's not working out entirely well in that scammers are using the mainstream media coverage of resveratrol as an entry point for credit card fraud schemes. I think that the real coverage breakthrough is going to come after more science breakthroughs.

[brokenportal]

Yeah this scares me too. I still don't get it. What's there not to love about ending aging? There needs to be more research in the field and we need more people to promote it. The contacting VIP project is underway and you can find that in the projects and ideas forum if you want to help.

Theres nothing not to love about it. Thats not what is holding up the support. Its just that like I said before, we are like the new shoe store in the neighborhood. Nobody knows we are here. All we have to do is continue to get the word out and the support will keep coming in. Like a carnival thats still being set up, "why arent the kids here" thats not even a question really, we just need to keep setting it up and send out all the advertisements and the place will fill up right on schedule. Your vip team is right on time to promote the big show.

The Good Morning America story sounds like pretty horrible coverage, with so much talk about fraud and whatnot. That said, I've really seen longevity creeping into the mainstream. This can only continue as it becomes more real. At some point, there will be some overwhelming evidence, probably in mice, and then there will be an avalanche of interest. Resveratrol may have been the first glimpse of that. So far that's not working out entirely well in that scammers are using the mainstream media coverage of resveratrol as an entry point for credit card fraud schemes. I think that the real coverage breakthrough is going to come after more science breakthroughs.

Good coverage is much more prefered than bad coverage, but even bad press can be good press, and this is one good example. If a bunch of people googled this stuff because of that and stumbled upon imminst then thats great news. Name dropping in the media to get people to google anywhere in our neighborhood of the net is awesome. We dont want to continue to string a bunch of that together though of course. Results in science will help of course, and we all help work toward that, but grass roots activism that gets enough added support and raises enough money to get proffesional marketing done to get this to the mainstream of the world will help too. Its racing with the results factor. Grass roots activism that helps gain enough initial support to help get the first initial results will also help spread this to the world. Luckily anybody can help with the grass roots marketing factor, so we can all put the petal to the metal on that one.

A million foot soliders or a thousand tanks, which one do you want? Ill take either, but I expect to get both.

[Mr. Jingles]

Today I saw a program on NHK WORLD TV. It was informative, but took the approach of a scripted mockery of discourse in order to come to repugnant conclusions about the goodness of dying. If they air it again, it looks like it may be viewable simultaneously on their website. Here is the TV schedule:

http://www.nhk.or.jp...dule/index.html

It would be nice if someone could capture the cast. To me it shows that the enemies of longevity are organized and can use the media to direct the public discussion to their point of view. I expect the next decade to have much more of the same.

http://www.nhk.or.jp...re/science.html

SCIENCE ZERO
*Bilingual(English and Japanese) Jul. 18, Sat. 2:10 - 2:55(UTC) etc.
"Human Mysteries"
- Part 7: Contemplating Mortality -
Approximately 300 billion cells self-destruct in the human body every day. The process is called apoptosis. But it's nothing to worry about. In fact, programmed cell death is necessary for our survival. It evolved in multicellular organisms along with sexual reproduction about 1.5 billion years ago. So, why did death evolve? And how does it benefit us? The Science Zero series "Human Mysteries" tackles the big questions about the human race from a scientific standpoint.

SCIENCE ZERO introduces state-of-the-art technology and advances in science that may change our future.

[brokenportal]

It seems like it's spreading very slowly though. After life extension discussion on Barbara Walters, Oprah and Paul and Meredith going on many shows to promote their CR book with millions of viewers I'm surprised not that many people have found imminst or LEF yet (the memberships are still quite low as are the registered members).

The registered user increase keeps going up steadily. I think its approaching 500 per month now. Thats compared to maybe 100 or so a few years ago.

Remember everybody also that this cause recently made it to the history channel also.

Also remember that we are the pushers. Lets not wait around for more of this to happen. Lets continue to strike while the iron is hot, lets continue to add weight to this momentum. There are few barriers that the weight of the world cant break down.

[Mr. Jingles]

I recently saw a foreign-language magazine in an airport that looked like the cover story was about living forever. I think I was in a Spanish-speaking country at the time. (I don't remember which airport it was in.) I thought it may have been a magazine entitled "Focus", but I don't recall. Anyway, I tried to look for it and actually found a magazine entitled Focus related to futurism. It's in English, and the cover design looks nothing like what I remember in the airport, but I thought I would post a couple of relevant links in this thread.

How to Live Forever
http://www.bbcfocusm...e.com/issue/202

Nothing is Impossible (The final section is about immortality through an inability to experience death.)
http://www.bbcfocusm...hing-impossible

If anyone knows of a recent Spanish (or possibly Italian - I had a connecting flight in Rome) magazine with a recent issue about living forever (possibly from a religious or metaphysical point of view), feel free to post it. I got the impression that it could have been an international publication in more than one language. I apologize for not jotting it down.

In regards to the television program SCIENCE ZERO that I mentioned in this thread, I saw a couple of other episodes where they floated "alternate reasons" for climate change such as solar cycles and heat islands around cities. It's starting to look like the show is just a mouthpiece for Japanese interests.

Edited by Mr. Jingles, 12 November 2009 - 02:59 PM.

[KalaBeth]

Saw an M-Prize ad on Hulu the other day.

Whoever did the ad-buying was pretty sharp.
... they put it on Highlander.

[brokenportal]

Speaking of this, Mind, and I, and Luigi Fontana (all seperately) were interviewed by a reporter for what is apparently the biggest newspaper in Italy, La Repubblica, last week.

We just arent sure if its even going to make the cut yet or even what kind of spin they might put on it.

However, this seems to be a continuing indication, in addition to all the kinds of things mentioned here, that this cause is sliding in to the mainstream. I think, and I could be wrong of course, that this is the calm before the storm, the first few rain droplets, and that its going to explode in to a storm of press for this cause.

[Mr. Jingles]

2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal
By Lev Grossman Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011

The preceding Time Magazine article is relatively neutral and touches on a majority of the Longecity Forum topics. I saw some negativity in the article comments; answering those criticisms would be a good thing.

Health Checkup: How to Live 100 Years
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010

This is a series of Time Magazine articles from a year ago. I apologize if this is a repost.

[Panther]

I recently saw a few Methuselah foundation ads on Hulu. I think three over a few days.

[Mr. Jingles]

The April 25, 2011 TIME Magazine U.S. Edition was What If There's No Hell? (In that case I would consider the Immorality Institute.) The cover shared by other editions were Forever Young. That story can be found at http://www.time.com/...2065254,00.html. It's a rehash of "amortality." It's mostly a hit piece describing extreme longevity as unnatural, unsafe, immoral (amoral?), and against social norms.

Here's something else I found at the Time Magazine website: How Stem Cells Are Changing the Way We Think About Disease. From the piece:

"But why stop there? If these cells can replace ailing cells, why not aging ones? Can stem cells, as a source of replenished, renewable and healthy cells, keep us young forever? "In the absence of disease, why would we die?" asks Douglas Melton, a stem-cell researcher at Harvard University. "With stem cells, can we get control of the aging process?" "There's tantalizing evidence that this might be possible, at least when it comes to blood and the immune system. Thomas Rando, a researcher at Stanford University, thinks stem-cell treatments may enhance healing in older patients who have difficulty recovering from surgery or a fracture. But he's also thinking about deeper issues involving the power of regenerative medicine. "There are very basic questions I hope we can make headway on using stem cells — in terms of understanding cellular aging, how that's related to tissue aging and the aging of an organism," he says. Which leads to the interesting possibility that with stem cells, we may no longer define age as how old we think we are but as how old our cells tell us we are."




Here is a historical perspective from Popular Science: A Brief History of Immortality. It mentions more recent topics like Ray Kurzweil and Resveratrol.

[brokenportal]

Longevity in the media is a great topic Mr. Jingles. If you want to consider getting a bit more involved with this there are a variety of ways you could help with it. For example, would you want to go into the multi-media section and compile a timeline of media from there and other sources in one topic that links to the other topics and sources? We could make use of and promote that timeline in a variety of ways. You wouldn't need to get everything, just all that you have time to include. Then also, would you want to compile a list of videos? If you did the timeline then you could do something like highlight videos in blue, and then tell our Youtube guy, Jdkasinsky, about it so he can extract them from there and he would post them for seconding to our youtube channel.

[Shannon Vyff]

I've seen more websites such as the following which are spreading news and helping gain support for ending aging: http://extremelongevity.net/ around--but mainly I was downright surprised to pick up my monthly girly mag Elle magazine before working out on the treadmill and seeing this: http://www.tascience...pdf/elle_ta.pdf heartening indeed to see coverage in mainstream media

[Droplet]

Weirdly, my first exposure to longevity was as a child. I just remember a documentary that was about progeria, an old man who wanted to live forever...then the bit that really stuck in my head. There was an animated explanation of telomeres and telomerase along with this weird guy with a guitar singing "you can do it with a telomere" in some song about extending telomeres to extend life

I was a weird kid that loved documentaries. I always said as a little one even without such media that I'd like to find the Fountain of Youth because I didn't want to be old. Glad as an adult people are trying.

I forgot about all this but came across the whole fight against aging thing as an adult one day due to remembering said documentary randomly and wondering if people still were thinking about halting aging.

Edited by Droplet, 18 August 2011 - 03:57 PM.

[Mr. Jingles]

If you want to consider getting a bit more involved with this there are a variety of ways you could help with it.

I am by no means an expert. What I've posted so far has literally been from making mental notes of things I've chanced upon. The following are a few more of those things.

Korean Namul, the Centerpiece of Vegetarian Diet - Arirang
I expect it to be posted on their Video On Demand page soon. (Registration required.)
A large segment of this program was about longevity. A wide variety of exotic, leafy vegetables were presented.

The September 2011 issue of Men's Fitness has Dr. Oz on the cover with the caption "Dr. Oz Shows You How to Live to 100 (And Live Well)." The article title is "Life's a Game Play to Win." Dr. Oz also made the cover of Time Magazine recently, but regarding his battle with cancer.

The October 2011 issue of Discover Magazine has a 35-page special report entitled "How to Cure Everything." At the bottom it reads, "Biohackers: The Self-Made Experts Who are Reinventing Medicine."

The Man Who Would Stop Time - Popular Science
I want to alert the community that the comments section of that article is being used to promote anti-longevity talking points. (nearly word-for-word copies of the things you might read in YouTube comments). It's important that those lies be rebutted!