Time, age & AI - which version is true? #093-094

Yours, mine or AI's?

“Has anyone done the Spotify ‘Wrapped’ thing that’s sweeping the nation”

- the early morning text to our What’s App ‘Napkintastic’¹ friends group enquired.

Inside I groaned - “Not more bloody social media hype twaddle”.

But when James went on to say - “I have and strangely I’m 23, I must be more modern than I thought”- closely followed by Jen saying - “I’m 22” - I was, naturally, intrigued.

How old?

Curiosity piqued, I unwrapped my Spotify ‘Wrapped’ only to find I was, wait for it, bloody 72! I mean, come on. My top listens were Beyonce, Kae Tempest, CMAT and Brandi Carlisle. Not to mention Chappell Roan and her ear worm Pink Pony Club. How could I be 72?

My indignation calmed when I heard DJs Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac on their excellent Sidetracked podcast saying they were 69 and 71 respectively. And they’re only in their 40s, yer.

Which brings me to another app-based aged dictator in my life – Whoop.

Data

Now I introduced you to my Whoop adventure earlier this year. The start of my data drive.

Whoop, a health and fitness wearable, measures all sorts of (non) critical stuff siloed under Sleep, Recovery and Strain. With deeper dives into vital (really?) metrics such as my daily steps, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, heart rate, VO2 max, stress levels, yardy yardy yar. Ever the diligent student, I voluntarily log additional things such as my water, caffeine and alcohol intake.

The reward for my studious recording, regular exercise and sleep hygiene? a Whoop age of 52.3. A whole 9.4 years younger than my chronological age, and 20 years younger than my Spotify age. Whoopy do indeed!

Yet, beneath the satisfaction of being ‘younger’, I can’t help wondering - do I really need an app to (bully) tell me I should go to bed at 8.30pm to reduce my sleep ‘debt’. Or that my alcohol intake reduces my recovery by 20%. Or my skin temperature or respiratory rate is elevated. When did data replace common sense, self-awareness and balance?

Does the barrage of data encourage me to be more health and fitness conscious or does it bring unintended stress recruiting me into the ranks of the worried well? A 21^st century, first world problem for sure. One to chew on. I’ll keep you posted.

Longevity Optimisation

And, on the subject of age, have you heard the latest bio-hacks being used by Kayla Barnes-Lentz, aged 35, in her bid to live to age 150? Longevity Optimisation as she prefers to call it. A combination of plants, pills and plasma laced with a heavy dose of prescription and joylessness far as I can tell.

Which begs the question why? Why would someone choose to live so long? Are the sacrifices and choices she’s making a fair exchange for more years? More time?

What is Kayla missing out on in her quest for such a long life? An extended life when, most likely, she’ll have lost the majority of her friends, her partner, siblings and maybe children. Not to mention how she’ll fund such a long life - once a financial planner, always a financial planner.

Surely life’s about quality not just quantity. Time now, in her 30s choosing to be carefree and casual if the mood takes. Living life with an appreciation and gratitude which comes from knowing life is short (ish). A life to be balanced. Not a discipline to be adhered to nor an experiment to be completed. Life only exists because of death. And how do we know death’s that bad after all?

I don’t know. Each to their own. We all determine the nature of the paths we tread and the choices we make. Helped or hindered by our genes, environment and fortune. I certainly wish Kayla well.

You

Age, and its interconnectedness with time and life, fascinates me. It intrigues me to know I can swing a decade either way on an AI fuelled whim. And who’s going to tell the LLM the truth that, deep down, I’m really only 35…

As ever, I’m interested in you and where you find yourself on the time-age spectrum.

Have you discovered your Spotify Wrapped age? If so, do tell. What AI fuelled devices predict your age? And what are your views on living very long?

Pour yourself a Carrot & Ginger Juice and drop me a line, I’d love to hear from you.

And remember, when you’re at that Christmas drinks party and someone offers you another glass of bubbles, you’re never going to be any younger than you are today, why not hey 😉

Until next week my friends,

Ruth x

ps I missed last week, hence this being #093-#094, in case you’re wondering.

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Thanks a lot for reading 1000Weeks. I really appreciate it. You keep me writing. If you enjoyed it, please do join the conversation, leave a comment, like, share or subscribe. It really does mean a lot to me, thank you.

1. A name derived from a very ‘jolly’ New Years Eve when we friends all made our New Years resolutions on the back of a napkin, as you do.