The Data-Driven Life

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/magazine/02self-measurement-t.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

by iamwil • 16 years ago

121 31 16 years ago

drallison• 16 years ago

I don't find may life so interesting that I would want to take the time and effort to record every event for later reflection. I'd rather to remember things imperfectly. Isn't the need to for a record ones life like this obsessive compulsive behavior?

Gormo• 16 years ago

Collecting data gives you the ability to aggregate past events, look at them statistically, and uncover patterns that may be counter-intuitive or just not apparent when looking at each event independently.

You can then use this knowledge to develop heuristics and rulesets that you can apply to better live your life. For example, maybe you discover that when you eat a banana, you get a surge of energy ~30 minutes later that lasts for ~1 hour. Now you know that when you need an hour's worth of energy, you can eat a banana a half-hour before.

That's a pretty simple example, but if you analyze various aspects of your life, you can gain much better control over it.

thumper• 16 years ago

Another example that came up while I was testing the Zeo: their tracker asks how much caffeine you have after 3pm daily. While I was messing around with their graphs, I discovered a clear correlation between cans of soda and poor sleep the next night. That might seem "obvious", but it was a real surprise to me because I had never noticed any relation at all. At the time I was trying to stop soda at 6pm and I go to bed at midnight, so it was even more surprising that the effect was so long lasting.

_delirium• 16 years ago

I'm not sure there are no downsides, though, in line with the previous post's reference to obsessive-compulsive behavior. In some cases, I think more data gives you better control, but in others, I think you end up in a self-referential loop where you're spending your time meta-managing your life instead of actually doing things. Considering how popular cargo-cult self-help type things end up becoming, I can imagine this even reducing people's control over their lives, as they now have enough data to force themselves to follow the latest diet or productivity fad more completely, instead of making independent decisions unconstrained by matching up data against external "what you should do given the data" flowcharts.

The title even hints at that: a data-driven life, i.e. what you do is determined by what the data says you should do.

Psyonic5• 16 years ago

That's not simple at all. You'd need to be analyzing your energy levels constantly to figure out things like that. Sounds like the life of a diabetic, testing his blood sugar every half hour. That's usually considered a downside.

rosshudgens• 16 years ago

I don't think it takes rigorous, time intensive application to improve oneself. Many of these "data trackers" take a few seconds a day. Write down some calories. Jot down sleep hours. Etc.

Psyonic5• 16 years ago

But it does take attention, at least until it's a habit. In order to insure you actually do the steps after every meal, etc, you either need to be thinking about it all the time, or use some other device to remind you. Eventually, it'll be second-nature, but there's a considerable cost in the ramp-up period.

patrickk• 16 years ago

It's not the "few seconds" that's the problem, the problem is that it breaks the "flow" that you were in, such as switching tasks when concentrating hard or enjoying a jog or getting to sleep. The act of recording the data is quick but the mental jolt takes time to get over.

This is why passively recording the data is the way forward. I myself ordered one of these:

http://wakemate.com/

They're also a YC startup.

RyanMcGreal• 16 years ago

You might find it more interesting if you could access and analyze all the data buried in your daily affairs. :)

iamwil• 16 years ago

That's the problem with data. You really can't see the patterns when looking at it one by one, but when you look at it as a summary.

Data analytics' value is in insight. The problem is insight is that it's surprise. If you already know what's in there, there's no surprise and hence no insight. If you don't think there to begin with, you aren't going to look and hence no insight.

It only works if you THINK and SUSPECT something's in there, but don't know exactly what it is.

albertsun• 16 years ago

No mention of Nicholas Felton? http://feltron.com/

floodfx2• 16 years ago

agree - his annual reports are beautiful...

dave1619• 16 years ago

Wow, just looked at his reports. They are pretty insane.

Sukotto• 16 years ago

Interesting that I'm reading this on 4/28 but the article's timestamp is 5/2. Did they publish early by mistake?

hakan• 16 years ago

No, it's a preview of an article appearing in this upcoming Sunday's NY Times Magazine (5/2). Bottom of the page reads: "A version of this article appeared in print on May 2, 2010, on page MM38 of the Sunday Magazine."

count• 16 years ago

I love the past tense for a future event.

floodfx2• 16 years ago

I've been reading about "Quantified Self" on kk.org for a while. I didn't realize it was actually Gary Wolf and others writing a lot of the content. Pretty interesting stuff...

One simple idea is to have an API to enable easy collection of quantified self data as well as to consume it. Thought about it myself at one point but I am not passionate about it.

Daytum (http://daytum.com/) has a nice webapp but no API...

hristov• 16 years ago

I don't know if I am the only one but I find this idea incredibly depressing. For some reason, the thought of measuring myself, and meticulously keeping track of everything I do really really depressing. I do not know if it is because it reminds me of the shortness of life or because it seems to limit my freedom.

Of course as a lawyer I do have to track the time I work for clients, and that (and the associated issues that come with it) is probably one of the things I really dislike about this profession.

Psyonic5• 16 years ago

My gut-feeling is similar, and I've been trying to fight against it lately. I don't intend to measure my entire life, but I do want to know I'm progressing.

Kadin2• 16 years ago

Far be it from me to question anything about your life, and that is truly not my intent, but your comment does make me wonder a little what it is you think would be depressing about having that information?

If it's just that the act of collecting the data seems like a waste of time, I can readily accept that. (That's why I don't do any of it; it seems interesting, but most of the systems seem like they're not transparent enough to the user. Yet.)

But if it's that the data itself would be depressing ... The data to me would just be a mirror. If you don't like what you see, and you have the capability of doing something about it, that strikes me as a better solution, in the long run, than just avoiding the mirror.

To each their own though. The article does mention someone who decided after doing a lot of personal metrics for a while to stop doing it, and some of the reasons they had for that decision. It's clearly not for everyone.

Psyonic5• 16 years ago

For me, its completely the time spent collecting it. If I could get all that data with no energy or attention spent towards it, I'd be all for it.

karzeem2• 16 years ago

Even a little data is really useful. I recently learned that my LDL and triglycerides are a little higher than optimal. When that happens, your doctor tells you something like "exercise more" or "don't pig out on carbs and saturated fats".

That's the kind of sound but vague advice that people are really good at doing exactly nothing with. But as luck would have it, I've been counting calories with a web app for the past six months. I went back and saw that on a typical day, 55% of my calories came from carbs, which is known to increase LDL and triglycerides levels.

Telling someone, "You know how DailyBurn says you're getting 55% of your calories from carbs? At the end of each day, I want that number at 33% instead" is so much more effective that it's a wonder people who don't have this data can manage at all.

hokkos• 16 years ago

Which web app ?

hackerblues• 16 years ago

Daily burn?

phob• 16 years ago

"Global superintelligence known as the cloud"... Really?

ganjianwei• 16 years ago

I recently wrote an iPhone app that lets you time how long you take to do routine activities. It's at http://www.ganjianwei.com/iphone/weiwatch/

Interesting how I never thought of how it fit into this bigger concept of using data in your personal life, especially how such quantification might take something away from our imperfect judgment, which is what makes us feel human.

drats• 16 years ago

The effort of collecting and recording all this data must be huge. And without proper experiment design it's not really worth it (was it going off coffee or his other simultaneous efforts?).

I already know I procrastinate too much on reddit, I don't need a graph really (or maybe graph it for a week to shock myself, but no more). Reading medical and psychology journals with properly designed tests would be much more beneficial. I know people like to think they are unique snowflakes, but in reality the effect of coffee or fish oil on people is going to be pretty much the same. And journal articles point out if there are groups that are different anyway. This is just OCD channeled into something partially useful.

The Data-Driven Life

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