A Generation Forced To Combat Hyperthymesia
I was a late adopter of Facebook. Any recollection of my life events before 2011 requires me to navigate my chronologically challenged memory or use inefficient methods of reminiscing such as asking friends and family or looking at letters and pictures. Since 2011, Facebook has taken that responsibility on for me and has collected a fairly comprehensive timeline of my life events. I now know when I went on the vacations and work trips, when I was gaining weight or shedding it, with long hair and without. Basically, my interactions with the social networking tool have all been captured and stored in a robust set of internet server farms in the form of 0's and 1's. Here’s the catch, the internet doesn't forget. Ever.
I bring this up as a borderline millenial. I’m young enough to believe the world is waiting for my life changing innovation to free us from some first world problem but also old enough to have enjoyed a broadband free upbringing. I grew up being conservative with a camera’s shutter button and patiently waiting for film to be developed. Our family rarely videotaped anything because it required an electronic mechanism half the size of a desktop computer. Currently — within arms reach — I have 3 camcorders at my disposal; all combined they are still smaller than an old cordless phone.
So, why the long intro? I think we should prepare ourselves for the fallout from fact based history collection and retention. I also have some parental advice from a offspringless bachelor. Basically, we need to prepare for hyperthymesia symptoms.
Is it Electronic? It is Probably Stored Somewhere!
Information on my grandparents and before is all tangible. Sure, we may have digitized the information but it was originally all captured in analog form. My parents — well, over the course of their life, they will probably have about 35 to 40 percent of there actions digitally recorded (all my estimation of course). Remember, this can include things like credit card swipes and ATM withdraws. Remember back when QWERTY text messages were in and sending an email was “just so fast and useful”? These actions could still all exists in some remote server farm somewhere…
Most decision points of my life will have been recorded. I’d say that will cover about 50% of all. Technology definitely knows which websites I prefer, my writing style, where I go and when (if I leave my phone on), and my bank can even predict if I’m not following my spending habits. I have access to social media and other online cloud based technologies to record as much or as little as I prefer. A recent hack of celebrity accounts has given the world access to some those celebrities most intimate pictures — further highlighting the information people are free to capture (and want to capture) but also expect to remain within their control.
We know this is not actually attainable. It is only going to continue to get more invasive. My children; well, they could grow up in a time when every second is recorded. Just look here!
I hate to be cliche; but, “if you can’t beat em, join em.” I think the only way to beat them would be to get completely off the grid, and far enough away from the so called grid that you aren't being tracked by any government or local community even. Maybe the South Pole is an option?
On the flip side, I believe people will continue to look for a framework for interacting with this new normal. If nothing else, wouldn't it be nice if some of the logical conclusions could be mapped out or if there was a comprehensive prudence list for the simple citizen? Here are my recommendations:
Study the Impacts
First, I always recommend a focused study of the impacts when addressing an issue. In this case, I recommend: 1) Understand the symptoms, challenges, and treatments for people diagnosed with hyperthymesia. (at least it gives my title some credibility…) Admittedly this is a very small group; however, there aren't many analogous situations in past where people are able to instantly draw on a detailed accurate and specific history. This is a powerful capability but probably has proportional negative impacts as well. 2) Research current day examples and trends of online saturation of personal information. Although reletively new, we do have some trends to assess. This will help predict the rate by which data can be saved and turned into information and knowledge. As a general rule, people find it more agreeable to get caught off guard by benefits as opposed to negative impacts — this may be an area to focus as people would have been more interactive if being “online” has been a positive experience.
One obvious benefit we can avoid from study area 1 above: we are not the ones burdened with the need to remember/store all of this information. The strength of our memory or the ability to call back the information is not left up to the person. Timelines will be drawn and maintained by by algorithms, server farms, and processing power.
Reveal Yourself, Take the Offensive
Seen below in the sheriffs report is a legitimate concern. I’m sure there are not many people who desire to “go viral” based on an embarrassing video. It will be there forever!! How should we handle this? Like in this sheriff’s report, should we just call the cops every time there is a chance we would be caught on candid film in an embarrassing situation?
I think it is important to get out there and put information online. It is important to make sure you are creating this timeline, this history of events. If you haven’t already, get a Facebook profile, Twitter Handle, and Linked In Profile. Try Pinterest and Instagram; visit and contribute here, Reddit, Imgur... Verse yourself in the online conversations, jargon, and specific lexicons used within these online life documentaries. Some of these communities offer you an environment to test your ideas and thoughts as well as contribute in a form of natural selection — with a popularity engine!
Entertainment websites are already collecting information about what you enjoy and where you frequent. Advertisement is becoming more and more individually based. Some retailers offer you — the user — the option to build lists about what you “want”. Yet, as one of my professors @rodrigonieto points out, these can be used as behavior models. Specifically: “it can be compared to Netflix, Netflix knows not only the person I want to be, they know the person I am.” This is an interesting concept. We can now document how our behavior choices are made, and the delta from what we originally wanted or thought! This is already being done for us, at the individual level. We should be deliberate with how this capability will be used.
Lastly, Pass it on to Your Kids!
This is where the bachelor gets to give parenting advice. I have had this conversation several times now with colleagues. The conversation goes like this: “I have to protect my kids, they are very savvy navigating the internet. I know they are going to stumble onto something they shouldn't or put something out there that will end up hurting them.”
Me: “Well yeah, obviously! That’s why you need to show and teach them how to interact online!”
I do understand these concerns and see how risky it is to give children this portal to the world; but here is the rub — children today have no choice, they will be growing up and interacting with the internet. Their friends will be capturing all of their shared moments. All of the dumb young learning steps of life are being recorded. Some kids have facebook accounts while they are in the womb! I assert most people like to reminisce with friends about the old times, but how many people would like be reminded of every life decision by watching an interactive online catalogue?!
We already know 1) they will be living this reality 2) many adolescents experience a time where they test boundaries and experiment 3) the new normal will include a behavior docket forever. It is prudent for parents to learn everything necessary about being online as they raise children in this environment!
Let’s be deliberate with our online history.
So, TL;DR?
