Have you ever hear the term “the quantified self”? I hadn’t until I saw this article on Mashable. The video they produced to help explain the concept is after the break.
Now, I have no problem with the angle presented by the video. Gathering data from wearable tech to help with the advancement of medical science in general and prescriptive medicine for the individual is fantastic, a true wonder of technology. However…
I worry that I’ve written too much on this. We talked about it a bit in the podcast centered around implantable tech, and I just wrote a post about not becoming a “Cyberman.”
And yet, I feel there is so much to say here. For your sake, though, I’ll keep this brief and focussed.
Identity: More than 1’s and 0’s
How do you define yourself, find your value? Your self-definition and self-value are crucial elements of your identity. If you were honest with yourself, you’d probably admit that you feel the best, experience the highest self-value, when you are really productive and put out a couple thousand words in one writing session or rack up your highest amount of steps or whatever numbers matter to you.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with that. We should feel good when we accomplish something, otherwise we wouldn’t try. That burst of dopamine we receive when we succeed, when we do something new, etc. is a good thing that God gave us to reinforce good behavior. However, when we begin to chase that “good feeling,” we put our identity at risk. Instead of taking those steps because I am a person who has a goal to accomplish, I become a “step-taking machine” who takes steps because that’s what I do. Maybe I’m splitting some hairs here, but I do think there’s a discussion to be had here.
Think about it this way:
Should I find my self-worth in how many people liked the status I wrote when I checked in at church on Sunday? Certainly not. It would be one thing to be pleased with the fact that others enjoyed or agreed with post, but to find my worth in such a thing would be devaluing myself as a whole. God set my value incredibly high by dying for me. Any self-valuation that lowers my worth below the death of the Son of God isn’t just wrong: it’s sinful and self-destructive.
And yet, I would hazard a guess that many of us have begun to quantify ourselves in similar ways. Our self-worth, our emotions, rise and swell with each “like,” “retweet,” or “share”—and yet that’s not how it should work. Similarly, now that we’ve entered the “resolution” season, we need to temper our drive to become a “better” person with the realization that God has already declared that He has loved us enough to set our worth at a very high price: His Son’s own life.
Technology is going to continue to advance, offering us new numbers with which to assess our self-worth. While gathering “metrics” can be helpful as we look to improve in fitness or our careers or studies, we cannot confuse improving areas of our lives or meeting certain goals with our inherent, divinely established worth.
Do you struggle with quantifying yourself?
[via Mashable.com]
Eric Dye says
Amen.