Thanks for an amazing post, Jack!
I think it’s worth mentioning that damage accumulation as the root cause is not the consensus view anymore.
To quote Josh Mitteldorf, there are three views:
(from the “programmed” school) Aging is programmed via epigenetics. The body downregulates repair mechanisms as we get older, while upregulating apoptosis and inflammation to such an extent that they are causes of significant damage.
(from the “damage” school) The body accumulates damage as we get older. The body tries to rescue itself from the damage by upregulating repair and renewal pathways in response to the damage.
(also from the “damage” school) Part of the damage the body suffers is dysregulation of methylation. Methylation changes with age are stochastic. Methylation becomes more random with age.
My belief is that (1), (2), and (3) are all occurring, but that (1) predominates over (2). The “damage” school of aging would contend that (1) is excluded, and there are only (2) and (3).
There has been a lot of progress with (1) in the last years which makes me more optimistic in short longevity timelines.
Strongly upvoted as well, and I agree with Vanilla_cabs—I don’t think it helps classifying everybody concerned about covid vaccines as anti-vaxers. Maybe we need a better term.
Here is an analysis taking into account recovered people with natural immunity in the US:
https://youtu.be/vJy8jdunpFw?t=520
Personally, I’m wondering if antibody dependent enhancement could explain some weird patterns we are starting seeing now in highly-vaccinated places.