The Rise of Biohacking

My other book, more on the heroic feminine, a selection of Father's Day pieces and more in this week's roundup.

I’ve been writing a lot about my new book Life in the Negative World, but I have another book, which is my modern English translation and adaptation of John Owen’s Puritan classic The Mortification of Sin.

This book has been widely touted by a who’s who of superstar pastors, but is incredibly difficult to read because of its archaic 1656 English. I translated it into modern English, and did things like add section heading that make this work widely accessible for the first time ever.

This highly rated book has sold over 10,000 copies, which is incredible for a self-published book with no marketing behind it. And it is still selling month after month.

If you are a Protestant, this is definitely one to check out.

Heroic Feminine Follow-Up

In a follow-up to my piece on Kathy Keller’s heroic feminine, a female reader wrote in with a literary example of the archetypal patterns I was talking about. She writes:

In your post on Kathy Keller's Heroic Feminine, you expressed interest in literary examples of the true believer. Here's one: Arwen in The Lord of the Rings. When she meets Aragorn he is the heir to the throne of Gondor, but he is living anonymously in exile. Her father, Elrond, tells Aragorn that his daughter is too far above him.

Years later, Aragorn and Arwen meet in Lothlorien. Though he is still living in exile, has not yet defeated his enemies, and does not yet possess the throne or kingdom, she agrees to marry him. As they converse, she says, "Dark is the Shadow, and yet my heart rejoices; for you, Estel, shall be among the great whose valour will destroy it. But Aragorn answered: 'Alas! I cannot forsee it, and how it may come to pass is hidden from me. Yet with your hope I will hope.'"

Arwen is definitely an example of a "sacrificial judge," because she renounces her immortality in order to marry Aragorn. She also sews a flag for him. "...when Aragorn was abroad, from afar she watched over him in thought; and in hope she made for him a great and kingly standard, such as only one might display who claimed the lordship of the Numenoreans and the inheritance of Elendil." Arwen is one of the few characters who treats Aragorn as if he has already been made king before it actually comes to pass, and her hope and encouragement help spur him on as he overcomes obstacles.

Another woman wrote to me to share that she’s already been working on a project to develop these themes. I will plan to share that with you when they are ready.

The Rise of Biohacking

GQ magazine had a recent article asking why everyone seems to be on steroids now.

I have noticed there’s been a huge trend towards various forms of “biohacking.” People are trying to optimize their supplement routine, use psychedelics therapeutically or for performance enhancement purposes, weight loss drugs like mounjaro, purportedly anti-aging medications like metformin, and taking steroids (testosterone replacement therapy, human growth hormone, etc).

This trend is emanating from elite levels of society and spreading. Typically, it involves substances that are illegal, dubiously legal, or prescription only.

I see the appeal of this. At my age, I’d probably benefit a lot from TRT. I also believe that some of this stuff works. I took BPC-157 (a peptide that was an over the counter supplement until the FDA banned it), which seems to have healed up a nagging hip injury that had been lingering for months and months.

But I personally decided to limit myself only to over the counter supplements, unless there’s a prescription medication that’s truly medically necessary. I also only take a few basic supplements: magnesium, vitamin D-3/K-2, vitamin C, zinc, and creatine.

As you know, I’m very influenced by Nassim Taleb. He points out that while these substances people are using have real short term benefits, they are not “Lindy,” and can have iatrogenic effects (harms caused by medical treatment or other interventions themselves) that are not obvious.

For example, it’s widely believed that Jeff Bezos is on TRT. People frequently juxtapose pictures of nerdy Bezos from years ago with jacked Bezos today. But if he is on these substances, were they a factor in his divorce due to increased sex drive, aggression, and risk taking? We don’t know, but these are the sorts of things worth thinking about.

I don’t take a strong position on what other people ought to do, but the trend towards biohacking is one that is going to confront men with a lot of choices and pressures today.

Best of the Web

AIBM: Dads Rock: The Evidence

Rob Henderson: Not having a father present at home is like a tax on life.

Brad Wilcox: For Love and Money, Married Dads Matter

NY Post: Grown-ups surpass preschoolers as the biggest toy consumers: ‘Most important age group’ - The “kidulting” trend is one I’ve mentioned before. It’s pervasive among Millennials, but affects even a number of Gen X people. Peter Pan like, people don’t seem to like to mature their tastes and pastimes today as they pass through the stages of life. I don’t think this is healthy myself.

LA Times: The dirty secret of California’s legal weed - Lots of pesticides - just one of the many problems with legal pot

The Free Press: When Opioids Steal Your Parents

Reuters: Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic - Incredibly, our own government was running a disinformation campaign to call the safety and efficacy of Covid vaccines into question. This happened internationally, but you can be sure information operations of this nature are run domestically as well.

New Content and Media Mentions

Life in the Negative World was mentioned by Terry Mattingly, Alastair Roberts, Andrew Wilson, Bill Muehlenberg, and the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding.

Johnny Burtka also had me as a guest on the Intercollegiate Studies Institute podcast to talk about Life in the Negative World.

New this week

• My podcast was with Richard Reeves, author of the influential book Of Boys and Men.

• I also had a review of Tim Alberta’s book The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory in the Claremont Review of Books.

• I shared my talk on the 10 pillars of healthy masculinity.

• And my public policy column in Governing was about the virtues of bus rapid transit.