1 of 25

Self-Knowledge Through

8:36pm

2 of 25

@buster

fanatic/skeptic

3 of 25

github.com/busterbenson/public

4 of 25

How I've quantified myself

2002: Morale-o-Meter

Daily subjective and objective tracking

5 of 25

How I've quantified myself

2009: 750words.com

Unfiltered, private journaling

6 of 25

How I've quantified myself

2010: healthmonth.com

Practice sticking to self-declared rules for yourself

7 of 25

How I've quantified myself

2010: busterbenson.com

Passive linguistic analysis of online activity

8 of 25

8:36pm

"public uncurated self"

9 of 25

10 of 25

5 years - 1,785 photos - 98% coverage

11 of 25

It all started with an innocent tweet...

12 of 25

"Every day for the rest of my life."

13 of 25

14 of 25

15 of 25

16 of 25

17 of 25

18 of 25

19 of 25

20 of 25

21 of 25

22 of 25

23 of 25

"Uncurated"

24 of 25

DBT

DBT = death bed test

Everyone, close your eyes.

Relax. You’re on a bed. It’s your death bed. It’s very comfortable.

You’re lucid. It’s night time. Your loved ones and friends are in the house with you, but in their rooms, also asleep.

Life is almost over. What do you remember about it? What went well?

What do you regret?

When others have been asked this question, they often come up with similar answers.

- I didn’t follow my dreams

- I didn’t stand up for myself

- I didn’t know my family and friends enough

They are regrets of self-knowledge, and regrets of action based on that knowledge. They are regrets of sharing and connecting with others.

The moments that come to mind are the tiny, uncurated, precious moments that were gone in a blink of an eye.

Even 5 years into this, I can review old 8:36pms and remember exact precious uncurated moments that would’ve otherwise been gone forever. Moments that were special to nobody other than myself and the one or two people I was with, and to nobody else. I can conjure up my death bed at every 8:36pm, and feel my future self thanking me for not taking these uncurated moments for granted.

25 of 25

Thanks!

@buster

bit.ly/qseu13-836