Longevity and psychedelics
An invitation towards the collective
Hello friends!
As I’m sure many of you saw, the longevity craze and the psychedelics craze had a love child late last year when Bryan Johnson decided to livestream his five-gram heroic mushroom journey for posterity. Joined online by famous tech bros and DJs alike, Johnson and his team measured 249 biomarkers pre- and post-trip - proclaiming the whole endeavor “the most quantified psychedelic experiment in history”.
There’s a lot I have to say about this whole thing. So much, in fact, that it’s taken me a good few weeks to muster the energy to engage.
I’ve decided to leave the very real questions about his dosage, set, setting, and planned frequency of trips for another day. Spoiler alert: These are pretty low hanging fruit in the “what not to do” category for safe and effective psychedelic work.
What feels more alive and nuanced to me is the complex questions around longevity and the role psychedelics can play in this arena. What does longevity even mean? What are we pursuing? And what role might psychedelics play in our pursuit?
To approach this topic, I suggest we walk through three different definitions of longevity - physical, purposeful and collective.
Physical Longevity
The most basic definition of longevity is biological. Lifespan. Time until your physical body ceases to exist. A more evolved definition of longevity tends to focus on healthspan - time free from serious disease, disability and functional decline. Yet the preponderance of work in this area still focuses primarily on the biological. What are the key biomarkers for physical health? How can we measure and optimize them?
This evaluation of physical health appears to be the core of Johnson’s endeavor. From inflammation markers to metabolic health and even sexual function, Johnson’s experiment - albeit N-of-1 with quite a significant expectation bias - seemed to show promising results. There are also many more scientifically rigorous studies showing exciting promise regarding the linkage between psychedelics and the extension of a healthspan:
A 2025 study showed that psilocybin extended the lifespan of human cells by up to 57%
Another 2025 study demonstrated the positive impact of psilocybin on the cognitive and motor functioning in Parkinson’s patients.
A clinical trial is currently underway evaluating the impact of psilocybin on quality of life for patients with early Alzheimer’s
I find these studies (and even Johnson’s data) to be promising. I plan to stay closely abreast as more of this research unfolds. If psychedelics help us to improve our healthspan, this is objectively a good thing.
Purposeful Longevity
And yet personally, I’m much less interested in the number of years lived than the quality of someone’s lived experience beyond just the physical body. How meaningful and fulfilling is your precious time on this planet? As artificial intelligence rapidly upends much of what we once held as true, I believe that we are about to face a meaning crisis much more urgent than optimizing for the number of years we can stay alive. Who am I? What is my purpose?
This is an area where psychedelics can play a deeply transformative role. When held in the right container, these experiences often connect us with the deepest essence of what it means to be human - our ability to feel, to connect, to ignite sparks of creativity. We are invited to live each day to its fullest potential, irrespective of how many more days we may have.
Collective Longevity
If you’re willing, come along with me into a third definition of longevity - the collective. How are we evolving and preparing for the longevity of humanity? This third realm of longevity is by far the most complex but also where I see the most potential for the role that psychedelics can play.
Even when we move the conversation about longevity from the biological to the purposeful, it is still highly individualized. How can I optimize my own personal existence for maximum health and fulfilment?
As a species, we are becoming more and more individualized. Atomized. In his recent Op-Ed titled “We’re living through the Great Detachment”, David Brooks writes:
You can build a culture around loving commitments, or you can build a culture around individual autonomy, but you can’t do both.
The first loving commitment we need to make is to ourselves. Psychedelics can be a powerful tool for this deep inner healing that is an essential foundation. Yet by focusing exclusively on an individual longevity agenda, we miss something much more potent on offer. Something I believe we must harness if we are to survive as a species.
When we invite psychedelics into the realm of collective longevity, they help us to wrestle with questions like these: How do I want to show for those in my life? How might I see myself reflected in the other? What is my relationship with the natural world? Where are humans most uniquely positioned to thrive in a rapidly shifting reality?
Unlike physical longevity, this realm doesn’t offer concrete metrics of success to be measured. Unlike individualized meaning and purpose, the results are also far more nebulous and unclear. But I can’t shy away from my conviction that this realm of collective longevity is our most urgent work as a species right now. Are we ready to show up for each other and work together to find our path forward?
Despite all my hopes and beliefs about the role psychedelics might play in our pursuit of collective longevity, I want to end with a heavy dose of skepticism. This thread of optimism has been in the air since Tim Leary was spiking the Kool-Aid many decades ago. It’s also true that psychedelics are non-specific amplifiers: we open the door but we don’t control what decides to walk inside.
Yet I continue to believe that when handled with the care and respect they deserve, these medicines can be powerful teachers for how humanity can and should show up in our next phase of evolution. It’s where I get most excited about this work and its potential. Are you curious to come along? Stay tuned for more invitations for how we can do this work together. And I look forward to being pulled in the direction of your ideas and invitations. Because at the end of the day, we’re all just walking each other home.
With love and gratitude,
Allison