Dave Asprey

So there's something called a threat surface. And this is all the exposed interfaces that we could poke at to see what happens. So now for my own consciousness, my own cognitive function, like, well, let's see, is today a good cognitive day or a bad cognitive day? Rather than my opinion, what's my quantitative ability?

And from there, because I was desperate to preserve my brain, I spent $1,200 on a brown, unlabeled box of nootropic pharmaceuticals, smart drugs, from Europe. And you could not buy them the way you can today. They're very hard to find. I discovered these from a 1980s newsletter called Smart Drug News. And because I'm an early internet guy, I found him online. And so I did all that stuff.

And from there, because I was desperate to preserve my brain, I spent $1,200 on a brown, unlabeled box of nootropic pharmaceuticals, smart drugs, from Europe. And you could not buy them the way you can today. They're very hard to find. I discovered these from a 1980s newsletter called Smart Drug News. And because I'm an early internet guy, I found him online. And so I did all that stuff.

And from there, because I was desperate to preserve my brain, I spent $1,200 on a brown, unlabeled box of nootropic pharmaceuticals, smart drugs, from Europe. And you could not buy them the way you can today. They're very hard to find. I discovered these from a 1980s newsletter called Smart Drug News. And because I'm an early internet guy, I found him online. And so I did all that stuff.

And a few years later, I met the author of that. He became a mentor of mine who's been on the show, Steve Folks. So it turns out there was this whole universe of cognitive enhancing substances that no one knew about. And I started taking them. And after a week, I was like, God damn it. These don't work. But then... Two things happened. One, I looked at my score on that little solitaire game.

And a few years later, I met the author of that. He became a mentor of mine who's been on the show, Steve Folks. So it turns out there was this whole universe of cognitive enhancing substances that no one knew about. And I started taking them. And after a week, I was like, God damn it. These don't work. But then... Two things happened. One, I looked at my score on that little solitaire game.

And a few years later, I met the author of that. He became a mentor of mine who's been on the show, Steve Folks. So it turns out there was this whole universe of cognitive enhancing substances that no one knew about. And I started taking them. And after a week, I was like, God damn it. These don't work. But then... Two things happened. One, I looked at my score on that little solitaire game.

I'm like, oh, it's better. And two, when I quit taking them, I noticed the lack. Because when everything is flowing, when your brain is working, you feel like yourself and it's hard to notice. So all of a sudden when I'm taking these things, I don't drop words. I don't forget things as much. And it used to be in meetings all the time, I'd start talking and I'd forget what I was going to say.

I'm like, oh, it's better. And two, when I quit taking them, I noticed the lack. Because when everything is flowing, when your brain is working, you feel like yourself and it's hard to notice. So all of a sudden when I'm taking these things, I don't drop words. I don't forget things as much. And it used to be in meetings all the time, I'd start talking and I'd forget what I was going to say.

I'm like, oh, it's better. And two, when I quit taking them, I noticed the lack. Because when everything is flowing, when your brain is working, you feel like yourself and it's hard to notice. So all of a sudden when I'm taking these things, I don't drop words. I don't forget things as much. And it used to be in meetings all the time, I'd start talking and I'd forget what I was going to say.

And I would just sound like a politician. I would just make a word salad while I was waiting for my thoughts to keep up. I don't do that anymore. If I drop one word in a day, like something's off and I know what caused it because I hacked it.

And I would just sound like a politician. I would just make a word salad while I was waiting for my thoughts to keep up. I don't do that anymore. If I drop one word in a day, like something's off and I know what caused it because I hacked it.

And I would just sound like a politician. I would just make a word salad while I was waiting for my thoughts to keep up. I don't do that anymore. If I drop one word in a day, like something's off and I know what caused it because I hacked it.

Well, there's kind of two directions. I'm going to give one that's a little, well, they're both a little bit of work, but one costs something, the other one's almost free. Okay. If you were to pick up any of the sleep tracking technologies, like a ring or a mattress cover or a strap, your Apple Watch, whatever you got, just track your morning readiness score. This is a beautiful thing.

Well, there's kind of two directions. I'm going to give one that's a little, well, they're both a little bit of work, but one costs something, the other one's almost free. Okay. If you were to pick up any of the sleep tracking technologies, like a ring or a mattress cover or a strap, your Apple Watch, whatever you got, just track your morning readiness score. This is a beautiful thing.

Well, there's kind of two directions. I'm going to give one that's a little, well, they're both a little bit of work, but one costs something, the other one's almost free. Okay. If you were to pick up any of the sleep tracking technologies, like a ring or a mattress cover or a strap, your Apple Watch, whatever you got, just track your morning readiness score. This is a beautiful thing.

This is how well did my body and mind recover yesterday, and therefore, how much of a load should I put on it today? Okay. And if you did everything right the day before, you'll be full of power and you'll be more recovered. And if you had a couple glasses of wine, ate the French fries, stayed out late, well, then you'll see it in your score.

This is how well did my body and mind recover yesterday, and therefore, how much of a load should I put on it today? Okay. And if you did everything right the day before, you'll be full of power and you'll be more recovered. And if you had a couple glasses of wine, ate the French fries, stayed out late, well, then you'll see it in your score.

This is how well did my body and mind recover yesterday, and therefore, how much of a load should I put on it today? Okay. And if you did everything right the day before, you'll be full of power and you'll be more recovered. And if you had a couple glasses of wine, ate the French fries, stayed out late, well, then you'll see it in your score.

So all of a sudden now, how does my behavior influence my recovery? And that is a major signal. Now you can hack it because you can track it. You cannot hack what you can't track. And that's one thing. And if you're saying, I don't want to do that, that's too much work. One of the cheapest biohacks of all that improves leadership and performance and longevity and aging is darkness.