I was looking for a nice quick listen and I figured the next thing from Tony Robbins would fit the bill after the last two I listened to were so short. Whoops. This book was 23 hours long. It talked about a lot of medical breakthroughs to improve quality and quantity of life. It can be quite hopeful about the future (and present) of medical technology. I did find it interesting, although it was quite repetitive and I could certainly see other people tuning out after a short while.
I also worry that he’s pushing a bunch of products that he’s invested in. Tony freely admits that he’s invested in many of the technologies as he discusses them. So while what he’s saying about the various breakthroughs sound nice, he’s pushing things he stands to make money from. It feels particularly shady when he’s talking about supplements because it sounds like every other supplement pitch. He can say the science is there, but so do all the other ones. Maybe his are genuine, but I’d like to see independent studies on them.
Getting past that, there is a lot of cool technology discussed. Stem cell research is very interesting and there’s a lot of good anecdotal evidence, including for Tony himself. There’s also potential in some odd things like using electricity, hijacking your own immune system, 3D printing, and maybe even things like acupuncture. There’s also plenty of more normal advances in technology, exercise, and drugs. We get a huge overview of the future of medicine and it is very hopeful.
One thing I want after listening to the book is a full body MRI. It would be nice to get one and check my whole body for solid tumors or possibly other ailments. The grail blood test is also interesting as it also checks for a bunch of types of cancer. If you can catch those cancers early, your ability to treat it is much better. Unfortunately, both those things are not cheap to get, but hopefully prices will drop over time. For now, either be rich or maybe see if your health insurance will handle it for you (it’s not usually covered).
The book also ended by playing to Tony’s strength talking about the psychological side. It includes things like the placebo effect and how just having a good mindset can help with certain things. It was a nice uplifting section although it too seemed like a bit of a sales pitch, but this time for his seminars.
I don’t really feel like a book is the right format for the type of information that was presented. The information is changing fast as new studies are done and some of the things that are being promoted in the book may already have failed newer trials. It’s still a reasonably good overview, but it was way too long and a lot of it won’t be relevant in a decade. So I’d generally shy away from this book unless you’re reading this within the next couple years and you’ve got a strong interest in the future of medical technology.