Living By Numbers

Let’s talk about numbers. Specifically, the numbers that quantify our lives.

Naturally, most of us hate the idea of being reduced to digits,or binary code, like the hero of the ‘60s cult TV show The Prisoner, who once said, “I will not be pushed, filed, stamped...I am not a number. I am a person.”

Yet these days, a lot of us are breaking down our lives into a series of numbers. Thanks to high-tech monitors and online software, we can track everything from our exercise and eating habits to the sleep cycles of our newborns. Gary Wolf started noticing this trend, and launched a blog about it called The Quantified Self. He’s a contributing editor for Wired, and he joined us from San Francisco.

Wired Magazine: Know Thyself: Tracking Every Facet of Life, from Sleep to Mood to Pain, 24/7/365

(Photo by (klaus) via Flickr/Creative Commons)