The Quantified Self
The Quantified Self
How many of you have heard of this concept? I had not heard of this specifically, but I am aware of pieces that are part of it. Do you use apps for tracking your exercise time? How about apps for tracking your calorie consumption? Do you use an app that tracks your heart rate? There are so many apps keeping track of so many pieces of us, thus ‘The Quantified Self’.
There is an entire web site dedicated to this subject. Quantified Self: self knowledge through numbers Pretty much everything you want to know about the subject can be found there.
There are TV programs that have attempted to depict what it might be like to take all the bits of this concept of the quantified self and actually create a person. Battlestar Galactica and Caprica are 2 that I have watched myself. What I found most compelling was the fact that they made you actually think about what really makes a person.
If we take all the data that has been compiled about us as an individual and put it together in one place, what do you think would be the result? I am not talking about things like home address and employment histories, although I am not at all excluding it. Have you ever had an MRI done? We have all had x-rays taken, even if it is only dental x-rays. What if you could take all the bits of information stored about you everywhere and put it all together? And what if you then put that information in to something you could interact with, say one of those Japanese robots. Have a look at one of the first –
If that isn’t enough to make you think, have a look at this one.
And finally let’s look at this one and think about what he is saying..
‘The Quantified Self’. Have I made you think about what really makes a person?
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Filed in: Technology
It is an interesting thought. I have enjoyed the new Battlestar Galactica as well as Caprica. It is stories like these that show what science fiction is really about. One of the underlying themes of science fiction has always been human nature and social dynamics. It is a game of what ifs. We find now many of those making inovations have been fans of this form of science fiction and they are attempting to answer the what if questions.
That was very interesting. It really does make you think. I loved Battlestar Galactica and the premise can be thought provoking. What the future holds for us/this will certainly be interesting the watch. 🙂
Such a big metaphysical question. The Matrix movies also come to mind. Will science prevail over the human soul? Doe people even have souls? Are we more than just the sum our our parts? You know it's a good question when it leads to more and more questions…
I think technology and medical advances really bring in to question what makes a person. You can have replacement limbs and organs. You can have a face transplant. How much of the original you must exist before you are no longer considered a person? Lots of questions…
Had never heard of the concept before and glad to note that I'm not a quantified person:-) To me being dependent on aps is frankly a horrendous prospect. What happened to intelligent and qualified human beings? Have we surrendered to technology? If so, I will break the trend:-)
It's pretty scary that the clones are exact duplicates of real people who give them commands. Maybe someday a robot will be giving us humans commands! Not in my lifetime, hopefully.
This is pretty interesting, scary and intriguing. They look so life-like yet it is so extreme. With technology these days, I never know what is next. It's an exciting ride.
Very weird. Technology is moving so fast these days that its a little scary to think about what might happen in the coming years. These kinds of things really make you ponder about how far scientists and developers will go.
Creepy. Visions of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" pods came to mind. Don't think I could act so comfortable with an exact replica sitting next to me.