Think Different
Lessons we can learn from SpaceX and vintage Apple for good health
On October 13, 2024, SpaceX accomplished what was previously considered impossible and did it in jaw-dropping fashion. It was so hard to fathom that Andrea and I watched it on replay more than a handful of times to try to digest the magnitude of the feat. For those who missed it, SpaceX successfully launched Starship, the world’s most powerful reusable launch vehicle; returned its first-stage booster to Earth from the edge of space; and caught the booster mid-air back at the launch tower with giant mechanical arms.
Oh, and the booster, nicknamed “SuperHeavy,” is 233 feet tall, which is taller than the average 20-story building.
Prior to this unprecedented achievement, the boosters that propelled the rockets to space had to be either recovered from the sea or abandoned as space debris, which, to my untrained mind, has always seemed like an enormous waste. However, for the last 60+ years, it has been the accepted process utilized by all the expert space agencies worldwide.
Until now, when a non-expert asked why, and then envisioned a spectacularly better way. This disruptive imagining has revived and reignited U.S. spaceflight, and now promises to propel it to unknown heights. I believe our collective health mindset needs the same sort of seismic reordering and resuscitation.
An inflection point
Despite living in an age obsessed with good health, we’ve reached an inflection point: investments and outcomes simply don’t line up. In 2020, the United States alone invested $245 billion in medical and health research and development, yet projected rates of life-altering diseases are skyrocketing, with a whopping estimated 35 million new cases of cancer projected worldwide by 2050. Obesity rates are soaring. Pharmaceutical prescriptions are at an all-time high. And sadly, regardless of the treasure spent on healthcare, the US life expectancy is declining and ranks 60th worldwide. How can this be?
It appears we are in the midst of a health crisis that statistically only seems to be worsening, which is one reason I’m on my Ageosophy journey. Thankfully, I’m not alone in questioning the contradictions in science and medicine. There is a growing body of research scientists, physicians, nutritionists, and health experts and aficionados who also see these anomalies and who are actively searching for solutions to better health.
On the one hand, I’m thrilled to see respected, Ivy-league credentialed physicians and scientists such as Dr. Marty Makary, Dr. Casey Means, Dr. Andrew Huberman,
Dr. David Sinclair, Dr. Tess Lawrie, and Dr. Kara Fitzgerald are just a few of the many who are active voices in the quest for a new way forward in the health and wellness space. On the other hand, it’s troubling to see the breadth of sometimes deafening opposing forces actively deriding and vilifying them and their message in the media.
Room for many voices
Take, for example, the recent roundtable discussion “American Health and Nutrition: A Second Opinion” held on September 24, 2024 in Washington, DC, convened by Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Conceived as a nonpartisan panel of experts, the goal was to understand “the changes that have occurred over the last century within public sanitation, agriculture, food processing, and healthcare industries that impact the current state of national health.”
Designed to showcase a wide range of information, including mental health, diet, exercise, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture, the 14 esteemed panelists included psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson, politician Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., activist Calley Means, and fitness guru Jillian Michaels. Although they were a diverse group of people, they had a very unified, threefold message: 1) the state of our health has reached a tipping point; 2) we must be proactive; and 3) the solution is in our hands.
Agriculture drenched in pesticides, soil depleted of nutrients, synthetic chemicals (many only allowed here in the U.S.) in highly processed food , endocrine-disrupting toxins in cookware, cleaning, and personal care products, and a wholly sedentary lifestyle only scratches the surface of what—in my and this group's estimation—is driving the rise in disease and deterioration of our health.
Given that it was standing room only in the historic Kennedy Caucus Room with two overflow rooms to accommodate the crowds, this is clearly a hot topic with significant public interest. Yet even though Senator Johnson positioned this burgeoning health crisis as a non-partisan issue and signed off with, “I hope America is listening and starts examining how and what they eat,” some political reporters regrettably spun the four hours of testimony as “egregious disinformation.”
One of the most irresponsible headlines I saw pejoratively called it the “Woo Woo Conference,” which not only belittled the experts involved but also made any serious discussion of holistic/functional health suspect. There is no way the writer could disprove the plethora of information in its entirety, but the disparaging story title immediately discredited it out of hand.
Open minds find solutions
This biased reporting highlighted one of the biggest stumbling blocks to solving any problem: closed minds. There is no doubt that our collective health is in decline and that the current get-a-pill-to-moderate-an-ailment approach not only isn’t working but may even be compounding matters. To get our health on the right track, we must be open to asking why and seeking better solutions from experts and non-experts alike.
In 1997, Apple’s seminal “Think Different” campaign dramatically pulled a failing tech company from the ashes and put it on a path to historic success. Interestingly, the concept for the final script was inspired not by the company’s technological prowess but by eloquent passages from the movie, “Dead Poets Society.”
“We must constantly look at things in a different way. Just when you think you know something, you must look at it in a different way. Even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try. Dare to strike out and find new ground.”
“Despite what anyone might tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
Likewise, I believe words and ideas can change the trajectory of our healthspan and quality of life if we are open to listening, learning, and putting reason into action. Let’s be open to ideas and those who see the world differently.
“They’re the ones who invent and imagine and create.
They’re the ones who push the human race forward.”