Why the quantified self requires both tech tools and smart brains

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Tech tools to mea­sure per­for­mance can fall short (Finan­cial Times):

“Ben­jamin Franklin could be con­sid­ered a pio­neer of the mod­ern “quan­ti­fied self” approach to per­son­al improve­ment. In the late 18th cen­tu­ry, he famous­ly used a chart to mon­i­tor his behav­iour, includ­ing acts of virtue, and reviewed his record of dai­ly activ­i­ties every night…

In the Fit­bit era, com­pa­nies have a dizzy­ing array of tech tools for set­ting and track­ing work goals Franklin-style…However, crit­ics wor­ry that the less mea­sur­able but equal­ly cru­cial tasks will be ignored. Because tar­gets focus atten­tion, they reduce people’s aware­ness of oth­er things that may be impor­tant even if they are not includ­ed in the track­ing system.”

Learn more:

• Ita­mar Lesu­isse at Peak: Let’s inte­grate brain train­ing with the quan­ti­fied self
• Gaiam and Reebok enter­ing men­tal fit­ness mar­ket via Inter­aX­on Muse partnerships