How Are Biohackers Missing the Point (Aging Well Requires a Spiritual Approach )

Is living longer really the same as living well? In this thought-provoking episode—featured on both The Aging Well Podcast and …We Have a Spiritual Problem—Dr. Jeff Armstrong challenges the assumptions behind biohacking and modern longevity culture.From Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint to the often-overlooked teachings of Jesuit priest and evolutionary philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Jeff explores what’s missing in the pursuit of “eternal life”: meaning, connection, and spiritual depth. He critiques the biomechanical and techno-optimistic lens of aging and introduces a more holistic framework—SPIES (Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social wellness).If you're tired of quick fixes and quantified health, and you're ready to explore a vision of aging that’s integrated, embodied, and spiritually grounded, this episode offers a powerful alternative. Learn why aging well isn’t just about living longer—but living deeper.

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Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to the Aging Well podcast, where we explore the
science stories and strategies behind living a longer,
healthier, and more purposeful life.
I'm your host, Doctor Jeff Armstrong.
In this episode, I'm going to introduce you to a Jesuit
priest, a Darwinian paleontologist, and a
philosopher. And the secret to the
biohackers, longevity experts and influencers, and even the

(00:24):
theologians get wrong about eternal life.
I will share my thoughts on why aging well is a spiritual
problem and not an issue of fixing one's biology.
We have people who literally spend millions of U.S. dollars
in pursuit of eternal life. Ponce de Leon never found it.

(00:48):
Neither will the Brian Johnson'sof the world.
Why? Because they don't know where to
look. Biohacking, Longevity, Health
span. What are we missing?
How come to that? First, what is biohacking and
why am I opposed to using the term?
Biohacking is a broad term that refers to the practice of making

(01:09):
intentional changes to 1's biology to improve physical or
mental performance, health, or well-being.
This can range from simple lifestyle changes like diet,
exercise, or sleep optimization to more experimental approaches
like nootropics, wearable tech, genetic testing, or even
implantable devices. At its core, biohacking involves

(01:32):
self experimentation and using data-driven methods to optimize
how the body and mind function. On the surface, this doesn't
seem so bad, so why does it bother me?
There are several critiques and arguments against biohacking
depending on the context, whether it's ethical, medical,
or philosophical, and here are some of the most prominent.

(01:55):
First, it's an oversimplification of health.
Biohacking often reduces complexbiological and psychological
systems to variables that can behacked or optimized, ignoring
the nuanced and interconnected nature of the body, mind,
environment, and community. Human health isn't a machine
with levers that you can pull atwill.

(02:16):
Treating it like software can lead to misguided expectations
and unintended consequences. Many biohacking practices rely
on anecdotal evidence, self experimentation, or pseudo
scientific claims rather than peer reviewed research.
Just because something works forone person doesn't mean it's
safe or effective for others. Confirmation bias and placebo

(02:40):
effects are often mistaken for real results.
Biohacking blurs the line between enhancement and therapy,
raising ethical questions about human augmentation, especially
in areas like genetic editing orimplantable tech.
So who gets to access enhancement technologies will
create further health inequalities or even pressure

(03:02):
people to modify themselves to stay competitive.
There's also an obsession with optimization.
Biohacking can promote a mindsetof constant self optimization,
leading to anxiety, dissatisfaction, and even
disordered behaviors. When being better becomes the

(03:22):
goal, people may lose sight of what it means to simply be well
or enough as they are. The biohacking industry often
turns health into a product, something to be consumed or
upgraded with supplements, devices or services.
This fuels a market driven approach to well-being where
longevity or performance is bought rather than cultivated

(03:45):
through meaningful living. Some by hacking methods such as
extreme fasting, off label drug use.
Do it yourself gene therapy can pose real health dangers.
Experimenting with one's body without adequate knowledge or
oversight can lead to harm, especially when the pursuit of
enhancement overrides medical caution.

(04:07):
So, in summary, critics like myself argue that biohacking
often promises control over human biology without fully
understanding the consequences, whether that's medically,
ethically, or spiritually. Spiritually, we'll come back to
this Biohacking promises controlover human biology.
This implies that longevity and lifespan are only about living

(04:30):
more years at best. The only emphasis on quality is
about health span. It is a purely biological
approach. But as many in the medical
community are beginning to learn, it's more than a biology
problem to fix. Many are coming to realize it's
not a biology solution, but a biopsychosocial solution.

(04:51):
I've adopted this approach in myexercise science courses I
teach. My friend, colleague and
biomechanist Dr. Lex Gidley corrected me though and pointed
out that no, it is a biomechanical psychosocial
solution. And this still only addresses
healthspan. What about wellspan?

(05:11):
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(05:34):
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Thank you. And now back to the podcast.
For most, wellspan refers to a period of a person's life during
which they are in good health, as opposed to simply being
alive. It is a refinement of the
concept of lifespan which measures how long someone lives
by focusing instead on the quality of those years,

(05:57):
specifically how long someone remains physically, mentally,
and emotionally well. I would argue that this
definition falls short, and thatis why most longevity efforts
fall short. Well, healthspan is about how
long you live. Wellspan is about how well you
live. Wellspan emphasizes
independence, vitality and resilience rather than survival.

(06:22):
So health span versus wellspan. The terms are sometimes used
interchangeably, but wellspan may include broader dimensions
of well-being, like purpose, connection and mental health,
not just the absence of disease.Many aging and longevity experts
now argue that increasing wellspan, not just lifespan, is

(06:43):
the more meaningful goal. In short, well spanned is the
number of years you live with optimal well-being, not just the
number of years you live. But do we really understand what
this means? I contend that the majority of
biohackers and longevity expertsdon't.
At best, they consider aging well to be a biomechanical,

(07:04):
psychosocial problem to solve. I often refer to six pillars of
aging well. These are exercise and physical
activity, eating a balanced healthy diet, maintaining a
healthy body composition, not smoking, maintaining good sleep
hygiene and purposeful social connections.
I'm careful, though, not to makethese the central theme of the

(07:26):
Aging Well podcast. Why?
Because these are only biomechanical, psychosocial.
Unless. This brings me to the well
centered fitness approach to longevity, the approach that
biohackers don't quite get. We can fix our biology, maybe,
but if we're spending millions of dollars to do so, what's the

(07:48):
point? Who is it benefiting?
What is missing in the biomechanical psychosocial
model? This brings me to the Jesuit
priest, the Darwinian paleontologist, and the
philosopher I mentioned earlier.The Jesuit priest, Darwinian
paleontologist, and philosopher are all one in the same.

(08:10):
I am referring to Pierre Tihard Deschardin.
My regular viewers and listenerswill probably recognize the
name. I refer to him often on the We
Have a Spiritual Problem podcast.
Jihad was a French Jesuit priest, paleontologist, and
philosopher who sought to integrate science and
spirituality, particularly through a Christian and

(08:32):
evolutionary lens. He is best known for his
visionary ideas about evolution of consciousness, the unity of
creation, and the future of humanity.
Tihad believed that evolution was not only a biological
process but also a spiritual onemoving toward an increasing

(08:53):
complexity and consciousness. He saw the universe is unfolding
in a purposeful way, culminatingin what he called the Omega
Point, a state of ultimate unitywith the divine.
This is a term for the final stage of evolution where
humanity transcends its limitations and unites with God
in a state of love, consciousness and cosmic

(09:16):
integration. It's both a scientific metaphor
and a theological vision to hardpropose that above the
geosphere, the physical Earth and the biosphere life on Earth,
there exists a new sphere, a sphere of human thought and
consciousness. He believed this thinking layer

(09:38):
is evolving as humanity becomes more interconnected.
He attempted to reconcile Christian theology with
Darwinian evolution, seeing Christ not as opposed to
evolution, but as its fulfillment, what he called the
cosmic Christ to. Hart's ideas were often
considered radical and speculative, especially by the

(10:00):
Catholic Church. His works were suppressed during
his lifetime, and he was forbidden to publish some of his
theological writings. Many of his most influential
texts, such as The Phenomenon onMan, were published post
humorously. Though marginalized in his time
to Hardy, Chardin has since become a major influence on

(10:21):
process theology, ecotheology, consciousness studies, and the
spiritual interpretations of evolution.
His work continues to inspire those seeking A unified vision
of science, spirit, and human purpose.
Till Hard saw the universe not just evolving biologically, but
spiritually toward deeper consciousness, unity and divine

(10:42):
fulfillment. I'm a geologist turned exercise
physiologist with a philosophical and a theological
mindset. Aging well, to me is more than
biomechanical psychosocial, it is spiritual.
There are no spiritual hacks. I don't rest the Aging Well
podcast on the six pillars because aging well, longevity,

(11:04):
lifespan, health span, well span, whatever you want to call
it, is a spiritual problem. Spies, another plug for my
friend Jay here. SPIES is an acronym for Well
Centered Fitness. It refers to the spiritual,
physical, intellectual, emotional, and social dimensions
of Wellness. As my friend Jay pointed out to

(11:26):
me, I always refer to these dimensions in a specific order.
The order is intentional, but not to form an acronym.
The acronym is just a Co after effect.
I believe the physical and the spiritual are inseparable, much
like to heart. Can we have longevity without a
spiritual dimension? I think that's what the

(11:47):
biohackers are seeking. This is why I don't see life as
something to be hacked. Biohacking approaches like Brian
Johnson's Blueprint are ambitious, data-driven attempts
to slow aging and extend health span through precise physical
optimization, targeting everything from diet, exercise,
and sleep to organ health and biological age.

(12:10):
However, when evaluated to despise framework, several gaps
become apparent. Biohacking misses a deeper sense
of meaning, transcendence, or connection beyond the self.
Johnson's approach is rooted in control, measurement and
technological transcendence, butlacks engagement with the
mystery, humility, and relational depth often found in

(12:33):
spiritual traditions. Living longer and staying
biologically young is not the same as living well in a
spiritually rich and meaningful way.
True well-being includes the capacity to Orient toward
something larger, whether God, the sacred, the cosmos, or moral
calling. This is largely absent in the

(12:56):
blueprint, active engagement with diverse ideas, curiosity
beyond self optimization, or philosophical reflection.
While Johnson tracks impressive amounts of data and is clearly a
systems thinker, most of his intellectual energy is focused
on self experimentation rather than exploration of broader
questions about society, ethics,or human flourishing.

(13:20):
Intellectual Wellness includes reflection, lifelong learning,
and grappling with uncertainty, elements often missing in the
tech or metrics driven mindset. Absent in the biohackers
approach is vulnerability, emotional resilience, and inner
life. Johnson's blueprint is heavily
focused on inputs and outputs, not the inner dynamics of

(13:41):
emotional experience, grief, joy, anxiety, forgiveness, love,
and so on. Optimizing neurotransmitters and
sleep cycles doesn't equate to developing emotional maturity,
empathy, or self compassion. Emotional Wellness includes the
capacity to experience, regulate, and grow through

(14:02):
emotions, not just manage them biochemically.
Other centeredness, genuine reciprocal community
relationships. These are glaringly absent in
the biohacker approach. Johnson's public persona often
emphasizes self-sufficiency, control, and independence.
His blueprint is extremely individualized and while he

(14:23):
interacts with the team, there'slittle focus on communal living,
belonging, or interdependence. Humans are not solo optimization
projects. They're shaped in and through
relationships. Social Wellness is about
meaningful connection, shared vulnerability, and contributing
to the well-being of others. Physical Wellness.

(14:46):
I'm disrupting the Spies order here.
Physical Wellness is where Johnson excels.
His blueprint meticulously tracks biomarkers, organ health,
muscle mass, sleep quality, and more.
However, even here, performance is often prioritized over
presence or embodiment. The question isn't how optimized
your body is, but whether you'reat home in it.

(15:09):
Brian Johnson's Blueprint is a compelling experiment in
biological preservation, but it risks reducing human well-being
to data points and algorithms. It lacks the depth,
relationality, and mystery foundin a well centered spies
informed division of Wellness. Without spiritual grounding,
emotional wholeness, intellectual curiosity and

(15:32):
social connection, even the mostbiologically optimized life can
feel empty. It is clear that one can extend
lifespan through the blueprint and bio hacks and many longevity
experts are exploring but not well span without spies.
As the evidence LED us to add the 6th pillar, social
connectedness. The understanding of the spies

(15:52):
or well centered fitness LED us to emphasize purpose, purposeful
social connectedness. The social dimension is the
pinnacle of the well centered fitness model.
Social connectedness is essential for aging well.
That became quite evident duringthe COVID-19 pandemic.
Adding years to 1's lifespan or health span are meaningless

(16:15):
without purpose. Biohackers seek to add years to
their life, but are they focusedon adding a life to the years?
Consider why you are making intentional changes to your
biology in the effort to improveyour physical or mental
performance, health, or well-being.
Consider the words up too hard. We are not human beings having a

(16:37):
spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a
human experience. Remember this and you will truly
age well. Thank you for listening.
I hope you benefited from today's podcast and until next
time, keep aging well.