More data won’t fix you, but they’ll make you know yourself better
I love following the Mosaic of thoughts newsletter. It’s the kind of crypto newsletter that is not about crypto, but about what’s around it. The crypto generation, I’d say.
But I don’t agree with the latest issue, More data won’t fix you, or better: I don’t think the writer is focusing on the right aspect.
In fact, Nao focuses on the recording aspect of the Quantified Self movement (if you didn’t record it, it didn’t happen), or the commoditization of dating through online platforms and so on.
I am some kind of a Quantified Self person. I log almost everything I do and I am, meaning that I log how many books I read every year, how many calories I burn, how many workouts I make, and so on. Everything that can be easily tracked. But I also log the sensations and thoughts in a personal diary. I do not think I need to share everything. In fact, I think that I only need to share what I believe is comparable to others.
And comparing to others is something I’ve been doing for years, but only for a couple of years I’ve been doing positively. Over the years I learned that I do not need to feel envy, but inspiration. And that’s why I love to share what I do and learning about what others do - it’s about exchanging fuel of inspiration. Inspiration is something that can fade away over time, and one way to avoid that that happens is to look at what others are doing.
Sharing and looking at what others are sharing is our (humans) way of keeping being connected to society as a whole. And unless you don’t want to live in the world’s society, it’s completely natural to do it.
Which brings me to the response to the definition of Dataism:
“everything that can be measured should be measured; that data is a transparent and reliable lens that allows us to filter out emotionalism and ideology."
I do not believe that Dataism is the same as Quantified Self. Dataism means measuring data and filtering out emotions, while Quantified Self means logging everything, even qualitative insights, to understand more of yourself.
Every morning, the moment I wake up, I check two apps that are fundamental to me: AutoSleep and RISE.
AutoSleep tells me how much did I sleep, and if the sleep session was good or not; RISE, instead, tells me if I am in a sleep debt and how much energy I have for the day based on that and the previous sleep sessions.
I could of course ‘follow my gut’ and decide if I’m in shape or not to do less or more things during the day, but I did that for years and it never worked out. Now, I know that some days I really need to take a nap after lunch, or that I can take that extra coffee in the afternoon and that it won’t affect my sleep in the night. Or how much can I push in a certain workout, and when do I need to stop.
This is because I’m 30, but I still act like my energy is the one I had 10 years ago. I kinda don’t want to accept that I can’t run for two hours every day without proper, progressive training. I can’t eat whatever I want. I can’t stare at screens for 12 hours straight. I can’t play on a console for 2 hours straight.
There are more and more things that I can’t do now, or that I need to properly prepare for, that I did ‘whenever’ 5 or 10 years ago.
So I need to be prepared. And that’s why every day I read what I wrote that same day up to 4 years ago, and because I log and analyze all my health, body and personal data at least once a year, if not more: it’s because I need to learn how I’m growing, evolving, getting old really.
And having to look at data and logs is the way that helps me accept that, and know how I can fix selected issues.
That’s why, for example, I’m on a quest to eliminate all my health issues this year, and I’m logging it every time I can.