Don't Bogart My Blog: Sunday Best: The dangers of biohacking your body

Consider this before following Silicon-Valley-style "wellness" trends.

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Sunday, July 14, 2019

NYTimes.com/Opinion »

As our editorial board wrote last week, the news about Jeffrey Epstein "looks like another example of how justice is not, in fact, blind — of how it tilts toward the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable." And it appears that he's not the only powerful person embroiled in this saga. Columnist Michelle Goldberg noted that Epstein was protected and enabled by other powerful elites. If you're just tuning in to the case, you should know that this wasn't Epstein's first encounter with the law. Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, explained how the deal Epstein got in 2008 might send him to jail now. As the news develops, it's worth keeping in mind columnist Charles M. Blow's salient point: "There is a plane above us average people, a plane on which the lives of the rich and powerful play out, a plane on which the rules are different." — Alexandra March

Facial Recognition Has an Ugly History

Photo illustration by The New York Times; Archive.org (photo plate from "Identification anthropométrique," published 1893); Amazon Rekognition (facial landmarks and boundaries)

By SAHIL CHINOY

Facial recognition technology is becoming more widely used — most recently by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — in ways that threaten civil liberties. But new frontiers being explored may recall sinister practices of the past, like the ones once used to perpetuate Nazi race "science."

When Biohacking Is Really Starvation in Disguise

Angie Wang

By THOMAS STACKPOLE

The idea of eating disorders may call to mind images of waiflike women. But there are a notable number of men trying to Silicon-Valley-style optimize their lives by biohacking their bodies with Paleo, keto and raw diets, fasting and an intensely optimized exercise regime.

Is Intimacy Trending?

Chloe Scheffe

By COURTNEY MAUM

You can hire a professional hugger and book time with a new pal on RentAFriend.com. So what does the future of touch look like? "Picture a return to 'pheromone-based' dating, prolonged eye contact as the new Soul Cycle, skin-hunger regulated as diligently as our Fitbit steps."

Why You Might Prefer Landings Over Takeoffs

Illustrations by Jon McNaught

By MARK VANHOENACKER

Do you prefer the feeling of just starting a journey, or the fulfillment of completing one? For this pilot, it has always been landings: "I went up and away, and it was marvelous, and then it was time to come home."

I Hope This Email Finds You Well!

By KERRY ELSON

"Hey, Lisa! This is why I like working with you — you care about your Barkley Company colleagues as human beings. Since you inquired: I've been in therapy for the last six months, I've cut back on smoked meat, and I've started growing oyster mushrooms in my basement."