This, you argue, can be interpreted as a confrontation with time and human mortality. While contemporary culture often urges us to ‘live in the now’ and enjoy the present, Johnson focuses on ‘optionality’ and preparation for the future. This perspective highlights the tension between immediate enjoyment and long-term planning. As I read it, you suggest that living solely in the present, without considering the future, can lead to shallow hedonism, while a balanced view that values tomorrow's opportunities can provide deeper purpose and motivation. Johnson, with his meticulous and disciplined approach, represents a rejection of ‘passivity’, all right, and an assertion of ‘control’ over one's own destiny, even if this means challenging the common perception of ageing and mortality - there are many variables to consider. In discrete mathematics, we find models that conclude in chaos from premises that seemingly appear perfect... It's all in the hypothalamus.
Not just hedonism, because I think a lot of people aren't making decisions for pleasure, but to avoid displeasure. I think there is a difference there. Like running to something, or away from something.
Interesting you mention the hypothalamus, as it controls body temperature. Supposedly, this guys body temperature is 4 degrees F lower than most people, as his body has so little inflammation it doesn't have to work as hard.
The Clock of Life is a concept by Bertrand Planes that is marked in seven to eighty-four, with a mechanism slowed down 61,320 times. Each number represents one year, and a complete rotation takes place every 84 years (12x7=84). This was the maximum average life expectancy in Europe in 2006. And these studies have been done on the hormonal process of the hypothalamus and the natural lifespan.