A few years ago, the notion of the "quantified self" was the domain of a relatively small group of hackers, engineers, and computer enthusiasts. Now, under its many names—lifelogging, self-tracking, fitness monitoring—it's become one of the fastest growing segments of the technology industry, from Fitbits to the Apple Watch. Its tools are small computers that live in everyday devices: bracelets, phones, televisions, light bulbs. And its promise is a world where where we make better choices based on insights provided by the computation of large data sets. But to get to that point means confronting a future that many find disconcerting: homes and bodies integrated with machines that will track our movements, our heart rates, and our feelings.
This hour, we set out to understand and interrogate this phenomenon. Can "the self" actually be quantified? Should it be?