This is the sixth episode in the Algocracy and Transhumanism podcast. In this episode, I talk to Deborah Lupton about her book The Quantified Self (Polity Press 2016). Deborah is a Centenary Research Professor at the University of Canberra in Australia. She is a widely-published scholar. Her current research focuses on a variety of topics having to do with digital sociology and the impact of technology on human life. Our conversation is divided into three main topics: (i) what is the quantified self? (ii) how is the ‘self’ affected by self-tracking technologies? and (iii) what are the political and social consequences of self-tracking?
You can listen to the episode below. You can download the mp3 here. You can also subscribe via Stitcher and iTunes (RSS feed).
Show Notes
- 0:00 – o:30 – Introduction
- o:30 – 8:05 – What is the quantified self? Is ‘self-tracking’ a better term?
- 8:05 – 11:30 – Are we all self-trackers?
- 11:30 – 14:25 – What kinds of data are being tracked?
- 14:25 – 16:20 – Who is attracted to the quantified self movement?
- 16:20 – 21:20 – What is the link between self-tracking and gamification?
- 21:20 – 26:10 – Does self-tracking help to promote autonomy and self-control?
- 26:10 – 28:30 – Does self-tracking contribute to a culture of narcissism?
- 32:00 – 43:13 – The metaphysics of the self in the QS movement: reductionism, dualism and cyborgification
- 43:13 – 46:40 – Do the benefits of self-tracking help to normalise mass surveillance?
- 51:00 – 54:00 – The Quantified Self and the Neoliberal State
- 54:00 – 57:30 – Self-tracking and the Risk Society
- 57:30 – End – The involuntary imposition of self-tracking
Links
- Deborah’s twitter, academia.edu, ssrn and researchgate profiles
- Deborah Lupton ‘The Digital Cyborg Assemblage: Haraway’s Cyborg Theory and the New Digital Health Technologies’
