data that serves, not decides.

Had a conversation, quick one with dayle about data this weekend, mainly health trackers and how they influence or can often intimate us to do more, supposedly suggestive and data driven advice but how often do we rely on and how much of it is us deciding what is right for us?

My point is that I want data that serves me but does not decide for me or creates other issues, mental health related or otherwise that intimates me into action, I’d prefer data that serves me, is served to me that I can carte blanche decide what elements stack up for me.

Photo by Stephen Dawson on Unsplash

Are we tooling these things wrong, is the education algorithmic fact for each person, could it ever be without our input, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a different make up than the algorithmic algorithm it was fed by the slightly chubby white man human that put the maths together on it (oh wait. ..)

My point is our interaction and experience with data sets that are about us, calculated from the numerous devices we carry with us on our person today don’t make up who we are, we can adjust and adapt and learn from this mostly hidden data we so apathetic didn’t consider before we had these devices anyway.

I mean the human species did eventually evolve to what we are today, sure we might have wasted a long time to mature but heck we made it, let’s not have these devices of today put is back in a reverse position by relying on them too much, data is good but only when it serves us in a way that we can relate and re-calibrate, when we use it to decide if we are healthy or not when it does not have all the elements of what it’s like to be a human with a soul then we lose.

Let your data serve you but don’t let it decide.

Have a lovely sunday!

__humble x