Qu'est-ce que le « moi quantifié » ?

The bard wasn't just whistling Dixie when he penned this line in his classic tragedy of betrayal, incest and greed. There are shelves upon shelves of self-help books, scores of meditation guides and an entire army of psychotherapists out there dedicated to helping people get a handle on just what's going on inside their own heads. You can't be true to yourself, without knowing who that self is.

"What a piece of work is a man!" Hamlet exclaims in the midst of one of the play's more psychoanalytic passages. More than four centuries later, advances in modern technology are providing more opportunities for humans to examine their own particular pieces of work. This is the era of the quantified self, a personal-monitoring movement that just may change the way we live.

The beauty of modern technology is the depth and range of information that it makes available with a few keystrokes, finger swipes or voice commands. Want to know what that song is playing in your local coffee shop? There's an app for that. Lost somewhere outside of Barstow, on the edge of the desert? Ask Siri for the quickest route back to civilization.

Et s'il y avait une application rien que pour vous ? Le soi quantifié est l'idée que les gens peuvent utiliser la technologie moderne pour mieux se suivre, pour surveiller le sommeil, les habitudes de travail et d'exercice, les changements d'humeur, l'activité sexuelle, la façon dont ils dépensent leur argent et ce qu'ils mangent et boivent, entre autres sujets. Grâce à ce que l'on appelle la "durée de vie des données", les quantificateurs peuvent utiliser les informations pour atteindre une grande variété d'objectifs, de la perte de poids à l'amélioration de l'efficacité de leurs tâches ménagères. Pour certains, les données sont à la fois la fin et le moyen, une manière d'apprendre des choses sur soi qu'on n'aurait peut-être jamais connues autrement [source : Wolf ].

Popularisé par les rédacteurs technologiques Gary Wolf et Kevin Kelly (Kelly a également cofondé le magazine Wired), le moi quantifié est un terme général utilisé pour résumer toutes les différentes façons dont les gens utilisent une technologie de plus en plus efficace et disponible pour suivre leur vie quotidienne. Qu'il s'agisse simplement d'atteindre un certain objectif ou d'atteindre un niveau supérieur semblable à celui de Bouddha de ce que Wolf appelle "la connaissance de soi par les chiffres", les outils ne manquent pas pour tout suivre, de vos exercices et habitudes de sommeil à votre fréquence cardiaque, glycémie et capteurs d'oxygénation du sang [sources : Antephase , Wolf ].

Like many movements before it, the idea of the quantified self came about at the intersection of a recognized need and the technological advances necessary to meet it. Humans have long been into measuring stuff, but until fairly recently gathering data was a protracted process that required manually entering information into spreadsheets and other software and then using it to build individual charts and graphs. It was also susceptible to human error and subjectivity, dependent on both the data gatherer's focused efforts and variation of observation and gathering cycles to paint a complete picture [sources: Wolf, Wolf].

Then came automated technology, smarter and smaller sensors, cloud computing and social media . Small, battery-powered sensors can now be used to collect data, which Web-based apps and sync-able devices compile and store automatically and present in readily understandable packages [source: Wolf].

Take FitBit , for example. These paper clip-sized activity tracking devices continuously sync to smart devices and computers to give a wide range of fitness-related info, including the number of steps a user takes in a day and the distance the user travels by foot, as well as calories burned, total activity time, weight and body fat changes. It also allows users to log the calories and food they intake each day. An accompanying app presents this data in easy to read charts and graphs and awards "badges" for achieving personal goals. Similar sensor-based devices can be used to track length and types of sleep [sources: FitBit, Wolf].

Mais le soi quantifié ne se limite pas aux objectifs de forme physique. Les chercheurs de connaissance de soi utilisent des outils de collecte de données pour ajouter des variables infinies à leurs journaux, de la capacité de concentration et de l'humeur à la consommation de caféine et aux cycles menstruels.

Le macroscope

Le macroscope fait référence à l'utilisation d'un large éventail de bits de données plus petits pour quantifier un modèle particulier. Recueillez des données météorologiques à partir de dizaines de stations hyperlocales afin de suivre le climat, par exemple, ou utilisez des capteurs routiers à partir de divers points de collecte pour étudier les modèles de trafic. Comme le quantified self, le macroscope est rendu possible par une technologie de collecte de données en constante amélioration et accessible [source : Antephase ].

It's easy to see the draw of some of the basic quantifying technology, which can be used to keep accurate and up-to-date records in support of a slew of self-help projects: Wean yourself off of coffee! Track your weight-loss program! See if there really is a correlation between watching Tyler Perry movies and your recurring sense of dread that world is simply a vapid, unfunny wasteland (that's just my opinion, of course)! It's a discovery tool, one that can also help people record and better understand their mental states, for example. If used correctly, personal data tracking is the most accurate mirror ever invented, one that has no bias and is immune to emotion, common opinion and outside influence.

D'un autre côté, il peut y avoir trop de bonnes choses. Certains auto-suiveurs sont rebutés par la nature froide, sans émotion et axée sur les chiffres de la bête. Lorsque le soi quantifié devient un mode de vie, les auto-suiveurs peuvent avoir tendance à assimiler leur estime de soi aux différents chiffres qu'ils calculent chaque jour. Ces chiffres ne mentent pas et ils peuvent être impitoyables. Vous sentez-vous déprimé si vous n'avez pas fait votre entraînement quotidien ou si vous avez dépassé votre nombre de calories avec ce délicieux morceau de gâteau au chocolat ?

The good news is that tracking system designers are working to make their programs more personable. A digital smoking cessation system, for instance, calls users' phones on a daily basis and asks whether they've smoked in the last 24 hours. If so, the automated voice at the other end of the line tries to reassure the user with a message about "taking it easy" and trying again tomorrow. Surprisingly, computerized reassurance does make us feel better [source: Wolf].

For those who like some personal interaction along with their technology, the Quantified Self Institute hosts open meet-up groups where people get together to share their self-tracking projects. There are also Web sites like MedHelp and CureTogether where you can view projects undertaken by other people as well as post your own.

Author's Note: What's the "quantified self"?

Maybe I don't want to quantify myself. Perhaps what makes life so grand is the not knowing. Sure, if I wanted to achieve a specific goal -- kick a bad habit, get in better shape, etc.- – I can see how all of this data gathering and analysis could be a big help. But it would have to be a concrete goal, and the self-monitoring would have to be temporary. Some say the quantified self is the wave of the future. I say it's one small step for man, one giant leap in the evolution of mankind into machine. If walking around with all kinds of monitors strapped to me like Alex when he goes through the Ludovico technique in "A Clockwork Orange"is what I have to look forward to, then pardon me while I work on building my bunker in the woods.

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