
To collect, or not to collect
and what to collect
In seminar we are currently discussing Data Humanism. Data humanism is the belief that in order for Data and Artificial Intelligence to be beneficial for society, human, organizational, and societal factors are crucial. For the purpose of this medium post we were prompted with the following question:
Imagine you were to start collecting data about yourself over the next ten years (2020–2030) to store in a time capsule. What data would you collect and why?”
Immediately more questions come to mind. Firstly, do I want to collect data about my life? In Giorgia Lupi’s ted talk; how we can find ourselves in data she talks about sending postcards with intricate data visualizations on the front to a penpal in London every week for a year. She speaks about how that act of collecting data about herself impacted the way she thinks about herself as a person. I was amazed by the detail of her work but it also terrified me to think of living a life where you have to be conscious and record every second of it. I appreciate the self-reflection aspect of it and agree that you would get to know yourself better. But what would I record?
Before speculating about that answer I first had to ask myself who will read that data — who is my target audience? Will it be for future societies or just for myself, 50 years from now?
If I were to record data just for personal use, the most obvious thing that came to mind would be the tracking of food, stress levels, amount of exercise etcetera. So that 10 years down the line I could maybe relate those data points back to my overall health. But would you really want to know about the effects that you can’t really do anything about anymore? On the emotional spectrum, I could record what gives my joy during the day the could possibly give me insight into what I should be doing more of. I would also be interested in recording what is important to me: maybe by recording what I talk about the most with other people. You always have an answer prepared about what you care about and are interested in — but do you really know? I think it is sometimes very easy to give a favorable answer instead of a truthful one without even realizing it.
While if I were to create a time capsule for future societies — the pressure is on. What is relevant for them to know? What do I want them to know about me and about the society that I inhabited? I can think of many things that I would record about the world that I live in such as, nature, landscapes, and different species and cultures that inhabit the world. However, what I record about myself I am not sure of. I wonder if it would be relevant to collect only data about myself — if there would be nothing else to compare that data with, what will that mean for the significance of it? Personally, I don’t believe that data from an individual is as relevant for future societies than that of the collective. Because data only becomes relevant if you can compare it to something else.
