A curious way of looking at the world, but a valid framing concept is this one: Modern science has – over the past several hundred years – been adding ‘personal instrumentation’ to our lives yet I think it’s an open question as to whether it has really ‘improved’ anything.
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Key Concept: In management school, there’s a key differentiation made between ‘data’ and ‘useful information.” Data is a collection of “facts” while it’s the analysis of the data, understanding its implicates and forming some action that’s at the core of management science.
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I recently felt compelled to expand my weather data gathering abilities. So I ordered a fine system which will tell me wind speed, humidity, rainfall, and will keep nice computerized records of all these things. Which sounded like a good thing until the unit actually arrived.
By then, I’d had enough time to think this through: What in heaven’s name do I need to instrument the weather for? If I step outside and get cold, I need a coat. If I step outside and get wet, then I need an umbrella. Better: I need to step back into the house and try to remember what I was going outside for in the first place. Was that something which could be delayed (a kind of theme that’s emerging this morning)?
Thermometers have their application around the garden, I suppose. But, since our garden is not in for the winter (long story about time available and virtues of fallow) does it really matter to me if we get down to 31.7º degrees instead of 32.8º. No, probably not.
Then there’s the personal medical thermometer: Although again, the question is where to draw the line between personal data and actionable information? I reasoned that if I’m somehow compelled to reach for a thermometer, I’m probably sick and the thermometer’s role becomes one of justifying what I already knew.
You’re seeing the problem, right?
The same thing is true for time. Once-upon-a…there was no digital taskmaster. People got up, worked till they were tired, called it quits and that was that. Today I sit in an office with a receiver tuned to WWV, outlook alarms for way too many details of life, and not counting the clocks that peek out from computer screens there are three digital taskmasters nailed to the walls – 2 out of 3 of which are of the WWV synchronizing type.
Not to go completely Ned Ludd on you here, but at some point in my life I think I’ve instrumented almost everything that can be measured. Everything from blood pressure throughout the day to how many M/L of air I exhale (450 M/L), to how much weight is lost due to the matutinal movement. (I didn’t want to say “crap” as you may be in the midst of breakfast…)
All of which at some point seemed terribly important yet as I sit here thinking about it being able to aside numeric values to a wide range of life’s activities is feeling more and more like a con game. The more I work on the art of ‘non-attachment’ and it’s first cousin ‘unhurried decision-making’, the more I sense that there’s a vicious circular reference in life: Critical thinking as taught in schools involves having lots of facts to pick and choose from. More and better facts to further and further decimal places.
It’s like most humans have been conditioned to seek that “one last fact” that will crystallize everything and have it gloriously transform to world into something that makes sense.
I’m slowly coming to terms with a horrible truth that’s hidden in plain sight: speedometers don’t make cars go faster, wind instruments don’t make a sailboat go faster, and taking your temperature doesn’t make you sick or well.
I’ve concluded that what we need is just one ‘personal instrument’. It would be roughly equivalent to the instrument of overwhelming importance when flying: The stall warning indicator. It tells you when the airplane is about to change from gravity defying joy to free-falling disaster.
I don’t know what the human equivalent of a stall warning indicator is, but if you come across one, I’ve got a bunch of other instrumentation I’d like to get rid of that’s tying up valuable processor clicks in my prehensile brain which in turn is getting in the way of touching the stream. Thanks.
Honesty In Marketing Department
So, what do you buy your wife a Lexus? Drive the big Beemer. Work 90-hours a week (other than you have a habit of eating and don’t like underpasses)?
I thought GMC was close to spelling it right when they came out with the Envoy model…but as I’ve discovered this morning, Hewlett Packard has gone them one better with a computer line called simply “Envy“.
Surely, this is worthy of some kind of “Honesty in Marketing Award” isn’t it? Isn’t that why people send uncounted hours washing and waxing cars…so they can inspire others to envy them? Isn’t that why we have a multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry? Why we are all acculturated to “More is better, Most is Best”?
HP didn’t “Invent” Envy. But at least they’re being honest about brining it to market.
1148 Department
Several people have sent in links this week to the WolframAlpha site after they plugged in my xxxx days to go number to see what I was referring to. A hint here.
Several others asked if we were aware that the ‘tension build’ in the linguistic work seems to get to the saw toothy wave form right around what Calleman describes as the “beginning of the Sixth Night of the Galactic Underworld“? Well, duh.
The usual disclaimer that the linguistics can’t distinguish between real or simply ‘buzz’ on a topic, shopping for a sailboat is back on my list of things to do.
All I Want For Christmas, I
That time of the year is almost here: When Greed & Excess consumption gets stylish. Soo…..on the off chance that it won’t matter anyway, check the video of what looks like the world’s fastest amphibious vehicle here. If you need our shipping address, let me know…
Peoplenomics This Weekend
“The Single Person’s Marketing Plan” Single? A little management science is just what may be needed. Segment that market and roll….
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Send your comments, electricians, and dwarves to george@ure.net
The UrbanSurvival Mall:
Peoplenomics This Week
“Economic Island Theory”
While we wait patiently to see which big commercial real estate outfit will be the first to hit banko, what the public reaction to the Obama declaration of national medical state of emergency and so forth will be, we’re at a fine point to consider one of my pet economic theories. I call it “Economic Island Theory” and it works with countries, states, cities, neighborhoods, and people right here on your block. If you want to understand who has power, Economic Island Theory is the ticket…no fancy formulas needed. Job, home, and Life counseling – all in one byte-sized theory.
“Live on $10,000″ Updated
With another round of layoffs due to start later this month…a round which will start to axe many of the middle managers who have managed to avoid the HR grenades…might I suggest a preemptive tactical move? Voluntarily dropping your lifestyle back a bit, since we’re all being marched down that road by either circumstances or some out-of-control-PTB types who write checks to Washington lobby and to anti-reformers in California! A good starting point, at least if you’ve still got $10-bucks is my e-book “How to Live on #10,000 a Year…or less!”
It’s an automatic download. It’s written in an information dense style: The whole thing runs about 65 pages, but it gives you a vision of how to not only live on the cheap, but also how to migrate up the economic foodchain if you have a little hustle left… Click here for the index and details.
MyGroPonics
My commodity broker JB Slear and I have written a simple book to get you started on high density hydroponics. It’s an example of how someone with a little creativity, access to a few ‘dollar stores’ and willing to try out some new farming techniques can grow an amazing amount of produce sin a very small space – like even an apartment balcony (if it gets some sunlight). Sound interesting? It’s just $10 bucks here…
No, when you tell your browser to ‘empty your cookies’ of web sites you’ve visited, it probably won’t get them all. Why? Because there is a whole class of ‘browser-independent’ cookies that will gobble up space on your hard drive, but more important is they will sneak out information about you without you being aware of it. Ever week I get emails like this one:
“Thanks again for the Maxa Tools recommendation, I never knew how much additional garbage gets attached every time I browse. “
Test drive it free by downloading it. To upgrade to full functionality will be $35 bucks. Is your privacy worth it?
Once you try it out, click the upgrade button (!) on the upper right hand side for the $35 unlock to get it to remove even those nasty and highly intrusive ‘non-browser specific’ cookies. Bonus: You computer may run faster. I’ve taken 1,000 37,970 41,837 cookies off my machine now. It’s just amazing. (I might ask their CTO to add one more digit to the “Total deleted till now” window…)
Attn: Mac Drivers: MCM does support the Safari Browser, but that does not mean it is compatible with Mac OS. Maxa-Tools only support the Windows world….so far. Given Jens and the other engineers time…
Feeling Thorny?
Want to be a thorn in the side of the Old World Order? Simply click here and send a link to this site to everyone on your distro list…Nothing more dangerous than sharp, clear-thinking upstarts who ask a lot of questions, eh? Unless you believe WTC-7 fell over on its own, of course….
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Last week’s report is here. For back issues of this site, click here. (Goes back to 1997!)