So, for anyone who has not experienced Bryan Johnson, this will be an interesting introduction. Bryan is a US-based entrepreneur and VC. His initial success came through Braintree, which he founded in 2007 before walking away after a couple of acquisitions with $800m.
He started a hardware business centred around brain activity and measurement a few years later, but became famous through his Project Blueprint, which is focused on anti-aging—not only slowing the ageing process but also trying to reverse it.
I could go into much more detail on this, but this book is all about Project Blueprint. Having read and listened to him many times in different formats, I was not sure how full-on scientific this book was going to be, but to my surprise and pleasure, it took a totally different tack.
The book is written as if you are actually in Bryan’s head. The characters are different parts of his personality, and the actual narration is from the perspective of a character called “Scribe,” who has brought all parts of his brain together to introduce them to his concept of Project Blueprint, simply called “Blueprint” in the book.
To give you more clarity, characters include “Farm Boy,” “Model Builder,” “Self Critical,” “Game Play,” “Self Harm,” and “Dark Humour,” to name a few, all of whom are arriving at a house for a meeting and to meet with “Blueprint.” Now, at first, this may sound pretty out there, but the way it is written is not only entertaining but also super easy to follow.
Blueprint is trying to convince the rest of the group that the body does not communicate as one toward a common goal, which is why our behaviour is often not in our best interest and why our body breaks down over time.
This concept has been introduced to the group to debate the lifestyle that Bryan has chosen for himself, and the internal dialogue of all these traits debating this goes on for the rest of the book. There are some great debates, and it feels as if you are in Bryan’s actual mind when he decided to go down this path—or perhaps this is the constant internal struggle that goes on in his head; I’m not sure. But it is a book like no other I have read.
I found the arguments between each trait fascinating. They asked questions I had not thought of and were sometimes also quite humorous. Also, at times, different parts of his brain would side with others, only to swap opinions later in the chapters. This goes on for some time, and some late-entry traits arrive that I will not mention here so as not to spoil the book.
I love the whole anti-aging discussion that is going on right now. It was inevitable that humans would get better and better at living longer, but actually looking at how that might work is also a question this book asks. Let’s be honest, not many of us are keen to live the way Bryan himself actually does, or have the means to do so, so I really enjoyed looking at that angle as well.
If you are looking for a book that will intellectually stimulate your thinking around this topic—one that is also quirky and different from everything else out there—I highly encourage you to read this. If you feel what Bryan is doing is not right or unnatural, then again, I encourage you to read it, as it may help you see this in a different light, if not make you change your mind.
Or, if you just want a sneak peek into his head, then read it as well. It is easy reading, and I found it very compelling. I did not want to put it down, but when I did, I looked forward to picking it up again.