“The great paradox of our lives is that ‘we are not living longer, but (we are) dying slowly’,” believes Marcus Ranney, founder-CEO, Human Edge.
He was speaking at the Mumbai chapter of Indian Business Literature Festival on Saturday.
“While our life expectancy is increasing, it’s also true that the onset of disease today is much faster,” said Ranney.
Calling his recent book “At the Human Edge: The Limits of Human Physiology and Performance” a labour of love, Ranney said that the intent of writing the book was “to lay down a path that can inspire people to fall in love with their biology again”, in the same way that “he loved his biology”.
He added: “I don’t want to be in a world where we are so connected with our technology that we become aloof from our biology.”
Speaking on “exploring one’s limitlessness”, Marcus shared an interesting anecdote. While training with athletes at the Royal Air Force, he realized “how one could push the body to extreme limits and enrich one’s learning”. “This took me to diverse expeditions – from the Mount Everest to the Arctic. I also got to work at NASA,” he said.
He further added: “My understanding after going through extreme environmental conditions and pushing my body is that it’s less about physical strength and more about the power of the brain. The brain helps us unlock our potential and achieve excellence in everything we do”.
Ranney’s book is an interesting take on how the human body changes, and adapts to new conditions -- when it’s climbing the Mount Everest, or travelling to South Pole or the Sahara.
“The final chapter is about the mitochondria because it is relevant to all -- be it athletes or someone from the corporate world,” he said, adding that “future interventions in medicine will be dedicated to the mitochondria for combating as well as managing disease”.