How Bryan Johnson built his own religion

Bryan Johnson spends $2m per year trying to reverse ageing.

Is this man a pioneer, or a false prophet?

Is he a catalyst of scientific breakthroughs, or just an Internet sensation?

Well, it's complicated, and fascinating...

Who cares about reversing ageing?

Anyone alive, really. Especially very rich people.

Check out how much Zuckerberg changed lately. Those two pictures are 6 years apart:

I could also mention Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, who just turned 80. Check out how he looks at 80. Beyond plastic surgery, he seems pretty sharp.

Many other Californian rich folks are on the same path, it has become a sport.

Once you're a billionaire, one of the only thing you can't guarantee is health.

And those who aren't that rich get to wonder:

"Wait, if those older guys started being healthy in their 50s and 60s, how great could my health me if I started doing the right things while I'm young?"

Fist came "Proactive healthcare".

It started with a wearable-craze. Garmin, Strava and the Apple Watch offered data that the average Joe immediately embraced.

Sleep quality, Resting Heart Rate, VO2... Anything that shows up on a colourful dashboard is fair game.

Then came "Proactive healthchecks"

Full bloodwork and whole-body MRI. Those are no longer cool on a need-basis. The rich now have it quarterly, just because.

Great for people with chronic conditions and senior citizens. Questionable that "everyone should do it all the time".

Is Hypochondriasis the new black? Should we even attempt to live forever?

"The Man Who Thinks He Can Live Forever"

TIME Magazine named him "The Man Who Thinks He Can Live Forever".

Why?

He's rich enough even think about this:

"Bryan Johnson, 47, has devoted his entire adult life to his anti-ageing quest after selling his tech company Braintree Venmo to PayPal for $800m in 2013.

He now spends a staggering $2m a year on his mission to become 18 again, the same age as his son."

-Independent.co.uk, July 2024

I came across Bryan in 2022, this intro was weird enough to make me interested.

How does he do this?

"Supported by a team of 30 scientists, his daily life is dictated by a torturous exercise regime and diet, monitoring and numerous treatments.

An all-over skin laser treatment he's been having has reduced his skin age by 22 years, the greatest age reduction in any part of his body."

- BBC, August 2023

Besides, he exercises A LOT. Of course, his entire life his shared online, akin to the Truman Show.

"The Man Who Loves Attention"

Bryan can't wait to share with you all that he learned.

• He got blood plasma from his 17-year-old son, then gave blood to his own father, completing the trigenerational-blood exchange. (Bloomberg)
• Bryan shares all, including his erections as an health-marker and updates on his dating life.
• In 2024, he was on Bloomberg, Fortune, Vanity Fair, NYPost, DailyMail...

So, Is Bryan Johnson a sham?

Or just the crazy “rejuvenation athlete” he claims to be?

What makes him such a unique character?

Three key factors brought him there:

1. Post-money Californian: He's rich enough to act as magnet for world class medical/tech talent
2. Former missionary & Mormon: He has a deep understanding of religion and faith
3. Great communicator: Damn, he's smooth on X/YouTube. A true meme lord on the rise...
   
   

That makes him join a league of influencers that "get" media. In a few years, his community grew to millions.

He's joining the likes of other Tech-related influencers that have A LOT to say about health, such as Andrew Huberman, Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan, Matthew Walker...

Yet, Bryan is different.

Refusing death and swapping plasma were good indicators of a "messiah complex", but it gets better.

Bryan wants to build his own religion.

Strap in, it's about to get a whole lot more interesting...

"The Man Who Wants to be God"

What makes a religion, you may ask? I asked ChatGPT (my other religion), then I filled the blank related to Bryan.

My thoughts on "Bryanism", as a religion:

- Belief in a Higher Power: "We're on the eve of creating super intelligence. Let's save men (-Bryan J)".

- Sacred Texts: Peer-reviewed articles & what he refers to as "the Blueprint".

- Moral Guidelines: Eat & sleep, exercise: "Your Heath is #1".

- Worship Practices: Blueprint tells you exactly how to live, down to the hour. Apply as loosely or rigorously as you want. Sleep & Impulse Control are praised.

- Community of Believers: Worship on Social networks and Apps. Admire/showcase perfect sleep, body, blood results..

- Mythology: Mix between the "US' Manifest destiny" and "Hero's journey" ("=An Adventures Where Everyone/anyone Can Make It!").

- Religious Symbols: Proof of Health (Fit body, full head of hair, great skin)

- Afterlife Belief: "Don't die. Be a living god, so that afterlife won't happen".

- Political views: Techno-libertarian, aligned with P. Thiel, Naval, RFK, Balaji...

But it's no ordinary religion. It's empowered by some who UNDERSTANDS media.

Bryan has built a remarkable organization...

"The Man Who Gets Tech"

Bryan is a remarkable entrepreneur. Sure, he made a bunch of money in tech.

Watch closely, he's about to do it again. It's remarkable to see him operate.

Bryan built his follower base using the EXACT strategy used by for-profit Silicon Valley tech companies focused on open-source technology.

He's a perfect link between San Francisco (tech) and Los Angeles (media).

Here's what he did:

1. Share results openly. For Tech, that's sharing code. For Bryan, that's sharing blood analysis results. Think of it like "Proof of Work".

2. Grow with contributions BUT keep ownership of the project. For Tech, that means enrolling contributors on Discord and paying out bounties on GitHub. For Bryan, that means Discord, YouTube and events.

3. Sell something. For Tech, that's offered a hosted, paid-for service based on the open-source development. For Bryan, that's his online shop. He understood that community is the original moat.

"The Man who guided Young Men"

Bryan lives online.

Remember when Bryan said you spent too much time on screens?

He loves it. Here's how I can best put it: Bryan is Reddit-compatible.

He's fluent in meme, leverages self-depreciation, covers relevant trends (eg. NoNutNovember, Semen Retention).

His mix of "no-non sense" and "sharing it all" makes relatable to an entire generation that lives online. He positioned himself as a benevolent troll.

Bryan understands sub-cultures

This is key: At age 47, Bryan is an icon for many young men.

He's the exact mix between "The Father I Wish I Had" and "The Fittest Version Of Myself".

He's the person 4chan loves to hate. He's the unspoken hero of the Incel culture: "Self Described Rich Loser Now Lauded By All. Thanks To Sheer Will".

Those communities follow few leaders, such as Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson. They seek clarification and cues on modern masculinity.

The answer they like best is Bryan-compatible, it includes "health, muscle, and individualism". A great fit for libertarian, and everything Donald Trump related.

Blueprint is also a way to isolate yourself from others. Preferring data, dashboard and online ties to real-world connexions.

For Johnson, sex-time is to be scheduled. Yet it does not have a maximum allotted time frame/optimal time frame: “No. Sex is playtime. Whatever comes naturally", said Johnson.

Bryan only talks to males.

Bryan is still struggling with this. I guesstimate his audience is 80% male.

He strives with males, removing taboos. He talks about erection, mental health and hair-loss. He's occupying a space that many people care about but didn't know how to approach.

But Bryan Johnson is hopeless at reaching out to females.

He once shot a 33-min YouTube Movie on enticing his female assistant to embrace Blueprint. Selling a reclusive lifestyle is a tough sell towards 20-somethings living in LA.

Spoiler alert, her takeaway is: "meah..."

"The Man who is walking a tight rope "

We have a "Strange Case of Dr Bryan and Mr Johnson".

He wants to be a benevolent Tech mogul. He also wants to become a religious figure.

How will that play out?

Public perception is shifting fast.

It went from "Bryan is a fringe freak" to "He's quite extreme" to "am I really poisoning myself?" to "Wait, Bryan may have a point..."

Controversies of all/any kind feeds the Bryan-train. It's the Tump "bad press is better than none" strategy. Saturate press outlets, they will love you for it.

Schizms within the Tech Health agora

AG1 has been the #1 sponsor of health-bros for many years. Influencers get a healthy revenue share for peddling this green powder of unknown dosage.

Bryan fired shots at the AG1 crowd on YouTube, for he's the only "transparent" authority you should trust.

Andrew H use to be Bryan's useful frenemy, they know seem to be falling out.

Faith ≠ Science

Bryan initial approach was 100% peer-reviewed. Science can't be wrong, right?

Bryan's current approach is combining Science and Faith, you need to "trust the program". He's placing himself and his disciples as examples.

He still mentions science, but becomes heavier on spirituality.

Where does science stop, where does spirituality begin?

Andrew Huberman is currently annoyed to see Bryan veerying cult-ish/one-sided. He's not the only one, this is getting increasingly polarized.

Cult ≠ Nuance

Bryan's strength is that he goes fast and far. His weakness is that mass-broadcasting early/edge science may go wrong.

Bryan has been under scrutiny since day 1. He has a lot of haters.

He triple-checks his facts AND he's constantly course-correcting. Startup style.

He's always one mistake away from getting ostracized. He was gracious about the "blood-boy meme" but this almost toppled him in the public eye.

Same thing happen if/when a few people with edge-medical condition will suffer from his supplements or routine, it may turn sour.

Also, if he veers cultish, will this antagonise some of his religious followers, having them choose between two gods? Even Trump tip-toed around associating himself with the divine. He's walking a tight rope here.

So, what's next for Bryan?

"The Man That Goes Mainstream"

What Now?

My assessment is that Bryan will continue pushing towards mainstream media.

He now shoots videos such as "How to Live Longer (in under 8 minutes)", I expect to see more coming along.

Why?

The "internet crowd" (X, Reddit...) is now convinced he's right.

He has a $500/mo product to sell and is moving on the masses.

I don't believe he needs money for himself, he's loaded.

Yet, evangelizing requires money.

Hey, there's a scenario where he creates his own Crypto-Currency. This a great audience-match, as well as his area of interest:

Bryan has been a regular on tier-1 podcast to chat business.

He'll be back to chat health with the big boys (Joe Rogan, Lex F, Tim Ferriss....).

Next step is his own Netflix show, along with publishing a NYT best seller "zero to hero" type book. That's what I call the "Ramit Sethi track to fame".

Then, he'll have enough street-cred to start opening up late-night show guest spots, think Jimmy Fallon.

What I feel may happen is that he pulls off a "holier-than-thou" move:

That means placing most of his assets in a 501c (non-profit) org, and dedicates it to his cause. Better yet, he creates and runs his own religious organization 501c(3).

"The Man That Wants to Live Forever"

Why did I spend so much time thinking about Bryan?

Bryan is a catalyst of the "Californian techie wake-up call of the 2020s".

Californians woke up one morning and realized a few things:

• "We got rich through Tech."
• "We lost our health in the process"
• "Certain things cannot be bought. SHIT."
• "We don't have much time left on this earth"
• "Let's try to live forever. Oh, and make a business out of his, because why not".

Bryan has me think of Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk with a degree in Circus Arts and founder of the Headspace App.

Andy mastered Tech and Media along with his own expertise. Expect that Andy bowed to live happily ever after. I expect that Bryan won't stop.

Bryan's transition from tech-mogul to guru is impressive. It's Nassim Taleb's definition of "Skin In The Game".

I have sympathy for the guy. Thanks to him, I tweaked parts of my diet.

Yet I can't help myself thinking:

• Bryan refuses to die, he has a messiah complex.
• Bryan experienced depression, warns about loneliness.
• When Bryan has hardships, he broadcasts those very publicly.

I'm not asking him to be perfect. Yet, when do we talk about trauma?

I'm baffled that his solution is simply demote the mind:

"The human mind should be demoted from nearly every area of authority. Our minds are our principal cause of suffering and self-destruction.

However, redeemingly, we have parts of ourselves – our organs and bodily systems – that are genuinely good actors. What if we empowered them and demoted the mind?” "

- Bryan Johnson

As a consequence, BluePrint won't cover talk-therapy. Doesn't touch anything linked to the mind. It's all about being fit, young and health

Bryan's solution may work for him: "Distrust the mind, take your pills and follows the routine".

My belief is that most of us should figure out problems in Therapy along with striving for better health.

Else, you may indeed live forever. With unprocessed trauma, which doesn't sound great to me?

Overall, I see Bryan as a trail-brazer.

He shared quality information and seem to genuinely care about his audience. He's done some good, highlighted key issues.

He's not perfect, nor should he be.

I'm curious to see where he goes now, I hope he keeps experimenting, if his current situation makes him happy!