Patrick Linden:
“My name is Patrick Linden. I am the author of The Case Against Death, and one of the co-hosts of the Levity Longevity Podcast.”
Peter Ottsjö:
“And I am Peter Ottsjö, also a co-host of the Levity Longevity Podcast. Our podcast is focused on longevity, but it’s not like most podcasts on the subject. We don’t just talk about healthspan or small incremental gains. Instead, we focus on the larger goal of achieving indefinite lifespans.”
Why should organizations become Vitalist?
Patrick Linden:
“Vitalism is a powerful way to reach decision-makers who can allocate the necessary resources to tackle humanity’s greatest challenge: aging and death. We believe Vitalism is an important cause to lead because the only way we can make real progress is by coming together to fight this problem on a large scale. To achieve this, we need to reallocate resources massively toward solving aging.”
Peter Ottsjö:
“We aren’t on track to solve this problem within our lifetime, and that’s largely because there aren’t enough people working on it, and not enough resources are being dedicated to the task. We know the problem is solvable, but it will take time unless we speed up progress by increasing the resources and attention given to it. It’s similar to how we decoded the human genome in less than two decades. With the right focus, we could achieve much more progress in aging biology in a shorter amount of time.”
Do you think we are on track to solve aging in your lifetime?
Patrick Linden:
“No, unfortunately, I don’t believe we are currently on track to solve aging and death in our lifetime. The main reason for this is the lack of resources being invested in this problem. Because of this, people are still suffering and dying unnecessarily. However, we can change this — and that’s the positive side. We have the ability to reallocate resources toward stopping, slowing, or even reversing aging.”
Peter Ottsjö:
“Exactly. The reality is that our focus is misplaced. We spend so much money treating chronic diseases without getting to the root cause of aging. We could instead spend that money solving aging, which would allow us to get rid of chronic diseases as well. There’s a fundamental irrationality in how resources are currently allocated. We need to shift our priorities to keep people healthy and alive rather than just patching them up.”
What is the focus of the Levity Longevity Podcast?
Patrick Linden:
“The Levity Longevity Podcast isn’t just about health — it’s about longevity in the truest sense of the word. We are fully aligned with the Vitalist Declaration because our aim is to solve aging and to enable people to live for an indefinite amount of time. We reject the idea that the risk of death should increase just because time is passing. Our guests are experts who are working toward this goal, discussing the technical, scientific, societal, and cultural challenges we face in achieving indefinite lifespans.”
Peter Ottsjö:
“This conversation is often missing from mainstream discourse. We want to introduce more people to the idea that we can actually solve aging. While many of our listeners are likely already aligned with us, our goal is to expand our audience and make these ideas more widely known. Levity is still a new project, but both Patrick and I find it incredibly invigorating. Yes, there are many podcasts about longevity, but most focus on small tweaks for improving healthspan by a few extra years. We want to aim higher — to promote the idea of indefinite lifespan.”
What would you do with unlimited resources?
Patrick Linden:
“If I had unlimited resources, I believe we could solve this problem. Whether it’s talent, funding, or advanced computational tools, these resources would put us on track to solving aging. That’s really the core issue — we don’t have these resources yet. And it’s important to note that while we may not need unlimited resources, we do need far more than what we currently have.”
Peter Ottsjö:
“Exactly. The issue is not that solving aging requires endless resources; it’s that we need to reallocate existing resources more effectively. Right now, so much is being spent on treating symptoms — chronic diseases — instead of addressing the root cause, which is aging. If we spent even a fraction of what’s currently being used to treat diseases on solving aging, we could make real progress. That’s what we’re talking about — prioritizing keeping people alive and healthy over constantly fixing the symptoms of aging.”
Final Thoughts:
Patrick Linden:
“We want everyone to have the ability to live for as long as they want. It’s not really about setting an arbitrary lifespan like 150 or 1000 years. The key question is: do you want to live tomorrow? If you’re healthy and curious about life, the answer is probably yes. That’s what we’re aiming for — to give people the power to keep living if they want to.”
Peter Ottsjö:
“Exactly. We put these artificial limits on what constitutes a full lifespan, but there’s no real reason for it. As long as you have better things to do than being dead, you should have the power to keep living. That’s what we want to achieve.”
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