This visualization shows a day-by-day comparison of the amount of time (in minutes) that I spent on Ableton Live versus the time I spent outdoors over spring break. The data is definitely in more extreme contrast than it would likely be on average, given the nature of the break and the fact that I was busily working on a sound design project for the production of a play. Still, it really makes me want to go lie out in the sun for a bit :P
The charge of narcissism has been leveled at the emerging trend of collecting and quantifying one’s personal data. I worry more that obsessive reduction of the self into sets of numbers borders on degrading the human spirit and moves us further along in our attempt to make objective That Which Cannot Be Objectified - namely, the texture of conscious experience. However, though in one aspect of myself I react to this in an emotionally negative way, I must also acknowledge that objective philosophies have done us much good (in some ways, at least). It is difficult to argue against the idea that empiricism pushed humanity forward into great new territories of scientific knowledge and beneficial technologies. Similarly, I find Wolf’s characterization of the self-data culture (as one of numerous little experiments) quite compelling. If the ideas of scientific experimentation did us much good, imagine what they might do when democratized. Ultimately, I think we’ll have to wait on time to tell us whether this new movement will become a freeing or imprisoning force in human society, but regardless of what we do with the numbers, I think it is important that we maintain a strong hold on the importance of the qualitative self in tandem.
