[michaelochurch]

Bullshit. He sounds like he's in his 20s or 30s. Energy levels should not be at 10% of peak. (Peak is around age 20.) They should be 85-95%, which is good enough to get most things done. 10% is appropriate for age 85.

His problem is that he's in a pretty severe rut. His default activities (low-value screen time) and cannabis use are depleting him. Unfortunately, the "obvious" change (quit pot and Reddit and, most likely, the Internet, cold turkey) is probably not a good idea. He could probably quit the cannabis cold turkey (it's not physically addictive) but if he quits screen time, he's risking anxiety issues. (Screen addiction is, IMO, about low-level anxiety.)

Energy levels do go down with age, but not so dramatically. Most people, I would say, are at 60-80% of peak energy (enough to perform well at work, and offset by gains in perspective) until their final illness (which might take a week, or a decade, to run its course).

The VC-funded world worships youth in a creepy way that has more to do with venture capitalists' midlife crises (they did their 20s wrong, and want to relive those years by taking young proteges-- this is often known as chickenhawking) than anything real or substantial. We shouldn't fall for that bullshit. The years from 20 to about 70 are basically a plateau for most people (excluding athletes)-- if they take care of their health.