A lot of overlap between this and the Billion Little Experiments reading.
A few points specific to this article
“We make decisions with partial information. We are forced to steer by guesswork. We go with our gut [...] Others use data”
This just seems like such an old-fashioned, empiricist perceptive on human decision making. Yes, we make bad decisions – but we’ve also evolved quite amazing cognitive abilities which balance primordial impulse, information and our more evolved selves negotiate to the point of a decision. See books by Dan Ariely, Jonah Lehrer and a hundred other people. The statement also speaks of data as though it’s this cool, unquestionable object. In my experience, most data is somewhat true or total bullshit – just because you use it doesn’t mean you’re not wasting your time.
“Ubiquitous self-tracking is a dream of engineers” and also the Stasi. Sooner or later we have to deal with the idea that self-surveillance is not the path to human dignity.
“A global super intelligence known as the cloud” – this was the point in this article when I knew the author was selling something.
The Sophie Barbier example is so dubious as to be laughable; “She took the tryptophan and her insomnia went away” could also be “I sacrificed this goat and the harvest came in”. Where is the control, where is the calibration. These aren’t scientific concepts, they’re ways to avoid superstition being taken for truth – and in doing so – they allow us to avoid being exploited by magicians and quacks.
Valentina:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
I think this article talks about things that we (I mean ITP people) already know, certain technologies are used in behave of health.
As I was saying in the previews article, new generations are having a very active online life and “the more they want to share, the more they want to have something to share”. This is basically a very good insight to educate young people about data-driven life, and let them know that self-tracking is discovery of themselves.
Frankie:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
The was provided stories that illustrate what a world of “A Billion Little Experiments” might be like, answering the question: What is it currently like to track and collect data about your own life?
There were many stories about how self tracking developed and cases where it successfully changed behaviors for the better by providing objective analysis of data in actionable ways. Although, I do believe that it will result in positive benefits for society, I couldn’t help but focus on the part of the article that talks about why people would stop tracking themselves. As mentioned in the article, electronic trackers don’t have feelings, and if you track too many areas of your life, eventually your own self-worth may end up being tied to the data – which ultimately caused an interviewee in the article to stop her tracking activities. Having your worth tied to data is a good thing for businesses, but in personal life?
This leads me to the idea that self tracking should be done in moderation. There needs to be a line drawn somewhere that represents too much tracking, but I have no idea where that line is. Perhaps the answer will naturally emerge from making design decisions in the interests of the users, but nevertheless, it’s an important issue to consider.
Craig:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
The point Gary Wolf seems to reiterate is that we, meaning humans, are not very good at naturally knowing our own behavior. Our memories are bad and our ability to recall the past is riddled with inaccuracies. Fortunately, with the development of accessible data tracking tools, we know have the means to not only objectively challenge our personal assumptions, but also discover more insights that we may have never considered.
Having never done any sort of regular regimented data tracking, I’m enthused to see what types of benefits I might see from such a commitment. I’m curious whether having this information will necessarily change my behavior or improve my overall well-being. Will I become completely self-absorbed with my own monitoring? Will I be annoyed with the repeated reminders? Or will it be a welcome compliment to my current lifestyle? Guess I’ll have to try it to find out.
Carl:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I kept thinking “Knowledge is power” as I read this. The more you know the more aware you become. As data gets collected there often becomes a “power in the numbers”. You may realize something that previously was right under your nose. Through the implementation of simple tools and systems people are able to achieve goals with higher levels of success. Through the addition of simple metrics people become empowered by the data. The accelerometer discussion was interesting, it highlighted that the information may be easily available but you must be able to apply it properly for it to become useful
Suvarchala:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Gary Wolf’s article was a great, happy read as it expounds on the different examples of people taking control and awareness of their bodies, minds and lives. The most important and relevant part for me was the fact that data about yourself allows you greater control and authority vis a vis the medical fraternity that insists on treating you like a collection of common symptoms. Fom personal experience I’ve seen how simple research on a particular topic has helped me challenge wasteful expenditure and unnecessary test recommendations, so I can only imagine what hard data can do. I also love the idea that first and foremost, tracking induces awareness without the need for public revelation (unless you opt for that) and that the data on something like drinking habits is akin to being confronted by a mirror all day. The truth is just there and the very fact that it just sits there staring you in the face would be a compelling call to action.
Fred:
September 19th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Nice and necessary survey for newcomers like me. One thing I’m left with after this, though is that despite the truth about smart phones being the catalyst for tracking, I can’t help but think that there are better, more ambient ways of data collection. I want to live in that world where we don’t need to bump into eachother on the street with our faces stuffed in tiny little screens collecting our every move. There’s an app for that, but shouldn’t there be a more ambient way for that. That’s all, really.
Ryan:
September 20th, 2011 at 7:45 am
I reacted to the article in four different ways: First, self monitoring is useful when using concrete data rather then using our perceived sense of wellbeing; that is knowledge of concrete self-data can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle and prevent disease. Humans have the ability to mask our problems– our trackers are emotionless. Second, we still have not figured out how we can empower people to monitor themselves and gather data in meaningful ways. Third, how can we interpret the self-data we gather correctly? Furthermore, even if a health professional is interpreting the data—are they doing it correctly? Forth, What is the right data to measure in our lives?
There is data in everything we do. Health is not only defined in terms of sickness and disease but rather in terms of happiness, human interaction, adventure, exploration, the list is endless. How do we measure these things correctly? Do they need to be measured? I think we enjoy the uncertainty of things rather then forcing prediction. Moreover, human health has a roller coaster quality to it. For instance, we can’t constantly be firing endorphins to be happy. Basically, we are never going to be in top condition all the time—either physically or mentally—by tracking ourselves are we just trying to balance that rollercoaster?
The other piece of this article refers to the notion of “goal” and how we now live in a society of where self-tracking is normal. Two things are apparent—1. It is very hard to define a goal for success. Furthermore, in defining goal for success in the future are we creating an unhappy practice of missing our life in the moment? This is noted in a Ted talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXy__kBVq1M 2. We self track but we don’t do anything with our data. This takes us back to the original point of empowering people to self-monitor. If we track but don’t measure are we doomed to repeat the same unhealthy cycles?
Ju Yun:
September 20th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
This is all about how we can get information and how we can use it as meaningful data for one’s health. Like Barbier said “The more variables I added, the more curious I got”, people want to find rule from tons of information. Especially that is for my body, it gets more attention.
I have very bad eye sight and I usually wear contact lenses. One of my friends recommended one vitamin which is good for eye to me and I take that regularly. After taking that vitamin, when I got home, I take off the lenses and then I test myself with the card which located in front of my mirror. If I can see the text on the card clearly without lenses, I feel like vitamin works well for my eye health. The thing is that I did not take note at all. Thus I can feel my action is good for my eye or not but that was not enough because I don’t have enough evidence which can convince myself.
Even though it contains some errors, there are a myriad of ways people detect their body conditions. How we can make it more efficient is totally up to system and system will gather valuable resources. With this data, we can get to know not only my past and current body condition, but also we can predict the future of my body. The self tracking system is critical in that it would let you know what to do next for your health.
Ji Hyun Moon:
September 21st, 2011 at 5:29 pm
In this mobile era, we have been living with this little media device everyday. Holding, using, checking, and sending, etc .. so many specific operating ways with this media controls and helps our life. Furthermore, recently, tons of applications for mobiles enrich our convenience and support life. For an example, self-health monitoring with mobile is a rising issue and trend among the public. Overused drugs, malpractice, and erroneous prescription have people’s life habit disease.
So, starting guesswork, this article mentioned, people slightly doubt to their routine life cycle. What makes people excited and temptation? What exaggerating and raising their anxieties? Suddenly getting a real data from daily life helps to figure out roots of problems. Time based data tells reliable facts to people . Addition to, people get back to their history of stored data, and check for comparing to present condition. Thus these customized recording structures are important resources for being healthier and better life.
“A fetish for numbers is the defining trait of the modern manager” I think because many experiences and expertise for seeking a better way of taking care oneself needs a reliable, re-searchable data as a number. Thus people can see the consequences of their action that gives them think over what they need for the future.
“Ubiquitous self-tracking is a dream of engineers.”
I totally agree and believe there will be a good tool for measuring and recording human’s numeric data for a better life. Recently, as an aspect of entertaining and easy-life, smart television has an essential and potential of recording and monitoring people’s activities or their routine habit patterns of behaviors.
As we know, we rely on the data of self-recording system, I think there must be a set-constructor that controls in a hub many branched devices such as a main board reads from several devices that each branch has a specific function for recording and monitoring oneself.
“soon everybody is going to be doing this, and you won’t even notice.”
This point as a experimental expert, we need to discovery in soon
Doug:
September 24th, 2011 at 9:34 am
“I don’t lie to the diary,” he says.
I think this is both one of the most interesting lines in this article and one of the most interesting ideas behind the quantified self movement. Systems for these people are inherently different from health systems for everyday patients. It ties into motivation and goals. For a quantified selfer, it is obvious. Their motivation is internal and their determination clear. But for a large percentage of patients, I expect their thinking and emotions are more muddled. I assume this is the case for diseases that take years or decades for effects of bad control to become evident (such as many chronic care conditions). There is a battle between what we know we should do versus what we want to do. There is an understanding that doctors want us to act one way, but we want to act another (while also a desire to avoid a doctor’s scolding and disappointment).
“Watch out for those machines, though… The data she was seeing every day didn’t respect her wishes or her self-esteem. It was awful, and she had to stop.”
In light of my last paragraph, it seems challenging to design a system that keeps people motivated to stay on target when even the most determined users sometimes loose their drive. While these systems operate best when operating on a full data set, the aggregation of the data as a process seems to lead to compulsive behavior for many people. Just as stock brokers learn to look at a company’s performance over the medium and long-term, it seems patients will also need to train themselves not to overreact to every small change on an hourly or daily basis.
Paul:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
A lot of overlap between this and the Billion Little Experiments reading.
A few points specific to this article
“We make decisions with partial information. We are forced to steer by guesswork. We go with our gut [...] Others use data”
This just seems like such an old-fashioned, empiricist perceptive on human decision making. Yes, we make bad decisions – but we’ve also evolved quite amazing cognitive abilities which balance primordial impulse, information and our more evolved selves negotiate to the point of a decision. See books by Dan Ariely, Jonah Lehrer and a hundred other people. The statement also speaks of data as though it’s this cool, unquestionable object. In my experience, most data is somewhat true or total bullshit – just because you use it doesn’t mean you’re not wasting your time.
“Ubiquitous self-tracking is a dream of engineers” and also the Stasi. Sooner or later we have to deal with the idea that self-surveillance is not the path to human dignity.
“A global super intelligence known as the cloud” – this was the point in this article when I knew the author was selling something.
The Sophie Barbier example is so dubious as to be laughable; “She took the tryptophan and her insomnia went away” could also be “I sacrificed this goat and the harvest came in”. Where is the control, where is the calibration. These aren’t scientific concepts, they’re ways to avoid superstition being taken for truth – and in doing so – they allow us to avoid being exploited by magicians and quacks.
Valentina:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
I think this article talks about things that we (I mean ITP people) already know, certain technologies are used in behave of health.
As I was saying in the previews article, new generations are having a very active online life and “the more they want to share, the more they want to have something to share”. This is basically a very good insight to educate young people about data-driven life, and let them know that self-tracking is discovery of themselves.
Frankie:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
The was provided stories that illustrate what a world of “A Billion Little Experiments” might be like, answering the question: What is it currently like to track and collect data about your own life?
There were many stories about how self tracking developed and cases where it successfully changed behaviors for the better by providing objective analysis of data in actionable ways. Although, I do believe that it will result in positive benefits for society, I couldn’t help but focus on the part of the article that talks about why people would stop tracking themselves. As mentioned in the article, electronic trackers don’t have feelings, and if you track too many areas of your life, eventually your own self-worth may end up being tied to the data – which ultimately caused an interviewee in the article to stop her tracking activities. Having your worth tied to data is a good thing for businesses, but in personal life?
This leads me to the idea that self tracking should be done in moderation. There needs to be a line drawn somewhere that represents too much tracking, but I have no idea where that line is. Perhaps the answer will naturally emerge from making design decisions in the interests of the users, but nevertheless, it’s an important issue to consider.
Craig:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
The point Gary Wolf seems to reiterate is that we, meaning humans, are not very good at naturally knowing our own behavior. Our memories are bad and our ability to recall the past is riddled with inaccuracies. Fortunately, with the development of accessible data tracking tools, we know have the means to not only objectively challenge our personal assumptions, but also discover more insights that we may have never considered.
Having never done any sort of regular regimented data tracking, I’m enthused to see what types of benefits I might see from such a commitment. I’m curious whether having this information will necessarily change my behavior or improve my overall well-being. Will I become completely self-absorbed with my own monitoring? Will I be annoyed with the repeated reminders? Or will it be a welcome compliment to my current lifestyle? Guess I’ll have to try it to find out.
Carl:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I kept thinking “Knowledge is power” as I read this. The more you know the more aware you become. As data gets collected there often becomes a “power in the numbers”. You may realize something that previously was right under your nose. Through the implementation of simple tools and systems people are able to achieve goals with higher levels of success. Through the addition of simple metrics people become empowered by the data. The accelerometer discussion was interesting, it highlighted that the information may be easily available but you must be able to apply it properly for it to become useful
Suvarchala:
September 19th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Gary Wolf’s article was a great, happy read as it expounds on the different examples of people taking control and awareness of their bodies, minds and lives. The most important and relevant part for me was the fact that data about yourself allows you greater control and authority vis a vis the medical fraternity that insists on treating you like a collection of common symptoms. Fom personal experience I’ve seen how simple research on a particular topic has helped me challenge wasteful expenditure and unnecessary test recommendations, so I can only imagine what hard data can do. I also love the idea that first and foremost, tracking induces awareness without the need for public revelation (unless you opt for that) and that the data on something like drinking habits is akin to being confronted by a mirror all day. The truth is just there and the very fact that it just sits there staring you in the face would be a compelling call to action.
Fred:
September 19th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Nice and necessary survey for newcomers like me. One thing I’m left with after this, though is that despite the truth about smart phones being the catalyst for tracking, I can’t help but think that there are better, more ambient ways of data collection. I want to live in that world where we don’t need to bump into eachother on the street with our faces stuffed in tiny little screens collecting our every move. There’s an app for that, but shouldn’t there be a more ambient way for that. That’s all, really.
Ryan:
September 20th, 2011 at 7:45 am
I reacted to the article in four different ways: First, self monitoring is useful when using concrete data rather then using our perceived sense of wellbeing; that is knowledge of concrete self-data can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle and prevent disease. Humans have the ability to mask our problems– our trackers are emotionless. Second, we still have not figured out how we can empower people to monitor themselves and gather data in meaningful ways. Third, how can we interpret the self-data we gather correctly? Furthermore, even if a health professional is interpreting the data—are they doing it correctly? Forth, What is the right data to measure in our lives?
There is data in everything we do. Health is not only defined in terms of sickness and disease but rather in terms of happiness, human interaction, adventure, exploration, the list is endless. How do we measure these things correctly? Do they need to be measured? I think we enjoy the uncertainty of things rather then forcing prediction. Moreover, human health has a roller coaster quality to it. For instance, we can’t constantly be firing endorphins to be happy. Basically, we are never going to be in top condition all the time—either physically or mentally—by tracking ourselves are we just trying to balance that rollercoaster?
The other piece of this article refers to the notion of “goal” and how we now live in a society of where self-tracking is normal. Two things are apparent—1. It is very hard to define a goal for success. Furthermore, in defining goal for success in the future are we creating an unhappy practice of missing our life in the moment? This is noted in a Ted talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXy__kBVq1M 2. We self track but we don’t do anything with our data. This takes us back to the original point of empowering people to self-monitor. If we track but don’t measure are we doomed to repeat the same unhealthy cycles?
Ju Yun:
September 20th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
This is all about how we can get information and how we can use it as meaningful data for one’s health. Like Barbier said “The more variables I added, the more curious I got”, people want to find rule from tons of information. Especially that is for my body, it gets more attention.
I have very bad eye sight and I usually wear contact lenses. One of my friends recommended one vitamin which is good for eye to me and I take that regularly. After taking that vitamin, when I got home, I take off the lenses and then I test myself with the card which located in front of my mirror. If I can see the text on the card clearly without lenses, I feel like vitamin works well for my eye health. The thing is that I did not take note at all. Thus I can feel my action is good for my eye or not but that was not enough because I don’t have enough evidence which can convince myself.
Even though it contains some errors, there are a myriad of ways people detect their body conditions. How we can make it more efficient is totally up to system and system will gather valuable resources. With this data, we can get to know not only my past and current body condition, but also we can predict the future of my body. The self tracking system is critical in that it would let you know what to do next for your health.
Ji Hyun Moon:
September 21st, 2011 at 5:29 pm
In this mobile era, we have been living with this little media device everyday. Holding, using, checking, and sending, etc .. so many specific operating ways with this media controls and helps our life. Furthermore, recently, tons of applications for mobiles enrich our convenience and support life. For an example, self-health monitoring with mobile is a rising issue and trend among the public. Overused drugs, malpractice, and erroneous prescription have people’s life habit disease.
So, starting guesswork, this article mentioned, people slightly doubt to their routine life cycle. What makes people excited and temptation? What exaggerating and raising their anxieties? Suddenly getting a real data from daily life helps to figure out roots of problems. Time based data tells reliable facts to people . Addition to, people get back to their history of stored data, and check for comparing to present condition. Thus these customized recording structures are important resources for being healthier and better life.
“A fetish for numbers is the defining trait of the modern manager” I think because many experiences and expertise for seeking a better way of taking care oneself needs a reliable, re-searchable data as a number. Thus people can see the consequences of their action that gives them think over what they need for the future.
“Ubiquitous self-tracking is a dream of engineers.”
I totally agree and believe there will be a good tool for measuring and recording human’s numeric data for a better life. Recently, as an aspect of entertaining and easy-life, smart television has an essential and potential of recording and monitoring people’s activities or their routine habit patterns of behaviors.
As we know, we rely on the data of self-recording system, I think there must be a set-constructor that controls in a hub many branched devices such as a main board reads from several devices that each branch has a specific function for recording and monitoring oneself.
“soon everybody is going to be doing this, and you won’t even notice.”
This point as a experimental expert, we need to discovery in soon
Doug:
September 24th, 2011 at 9:34 am
“I don’t lie to the diary,” he says.
I think this is both one of the most interesting lines in this article and one of the most interesting ideas behind the quantified self movement. Systems for these people are inherently different from health systems for everyday patients. It ties into motivation and goals. For a quantified selfer, it is obvious. Their motivation is internal and their determination clear. But for a large percentage of patients, I expect their thinking and emotions are more muddled. I assume this is the case for diseases that take years or decades for effects of bad control to become evident (such as many chronic care conditions). There is a battle between what we know we should do versus what we want to do. There is an understanding that doctors want us to act one way, but we want to act another (while also a desire to avoid a doctor’s scolding and disappointment).
“Watch out for those machines, though… The data she was seeing every day didn’t respect her wishes or her self-esteem. It was awful, and she had to stop.”
In light of my last paragraph, it seems challenging to design a system that keeps people motivated to stay on target when even the most determined users sometimes loose their drive. While these systems operate best when operating on a full data set, the aggregation of the data as a process seems to lead to compulsive behavior for many people. Just as stock brokers learn to look at a company’s performance over the medium and long-term, it seems patients will also need to train themselves not to overreact to every small change on an hourly or daily basis.