Similar to Lifelogging, the Quantified Self is another activity based on wearing/using devices to track and record specifics about your daily life or habits. Some of the more popular things to track include sleep habits/quality, fitness, heart rate, blood pressure, moods, finances, and food consumption. Once captured, the data can be integrated with lifelogging apps or analyzed.
Admittedly, there are probably a lot of advantages to tracking certain aspects of one’s life. I often read about how useful some of this detailed tracking can be when visiting the doctor, especially if one has a condition that must be monitored carefully. Every time the doctor asks “And how long have you been experiencing X?”, I’m fairly likely to respond with a vague answer like “a while,” or “off and on for a few months.” When there’s something going on with our bodies, it can be challenging to isolate the exact cause.
However, when we elect to generate so much personal data about our health or financial well-being, it’s important to consider who has access to this information. We may think it’s only for us, but most apps come with porous privacy policies, incomprehensible terms of service, and sneaky relationships with third-party providers who are eager to attract our business. What if your health insurance premiums escalate because of your fitbit data?
Although I can see lots of potential benefits with tracking aspects of ourselves, whenever I’ve manually tracked something to identify (or monitor) a problem, part of the solution was based on having more awareness and consciousness about what I was doing. I just wonder with so many devices automatically tracking stuff about my body/life, is that really beneficial? Will it capture too much data and complicate the analyses? Will I spend so much of my time tracking, recording, and analyzing data that I won’t have time left to live?
I firmly believe that the human body contains a lot of wisdom, but only if we’re engaged enough to pay attention to what it’s telling us. I don’t need an app to tell me I had a bad night’s sleep, I gauge it based on how I feel when I wake up. I’m sure we’ll find a way to balance the benefits of using technology to accurately and automatically track aspects of our lives, without becoming so disengaged from the process that we forget how to listen to our bodies.
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