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I put my whole life into a single database

howisfelix.today

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Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#161

Post by skyberrys »

driverdan wrote: post #122
brodo wrote: post #4

The takeaways at the very bottom of the page are valuable: > Overall, having spent a significant amount of time building this project, scaling it up to the size it’s at now, as well as analysing the data, the main conclusion is that it is not worth building your own solution, and investing this much time. When I first started building this project 3 years ago, I expected to learn way more surprising and interesting f…

I never spent as much time as OP on this but I did collect a lot of data during peak quantified self. I liked having automatic data collection and being able to see trends, for example. I stopped because of a few issues, not related to time: * Hardware companies went out of business, stopped supporting devices, etc. It became obvious that there was no long term commitment to make good quality hardware that lasted a l…

This provides some insight into startup ideas around privacy, local first, offline only self data collection. I agree this kind of personal life data is something you don't want to contribute unknowingly to big data. I could see wanting to share it particularly around a health problem where only massive compute has a chance at providing answers.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#162

Post by jives »

brodo wrote: post #4

The takeaways at the very bottom of the page are valuable: > Overall, having spent a significant amount of time building this project, scaling it up to the size it’s at now, as well as analysing the data, the main conclusion is that it is not worth building your own solution, and investing this much time. When I first started building this project 3 years ago, I expected to learn way more surprising and interesting f…

> The whole "quantified self" movement might be more about OCD and perfectionism than anything else.

As someone who has dealt with OCD and perfectionism, I think that could be the case for a lot of people. And the urge to obsessively track everything can be debilitating.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#164

Post by titzer »

crazygringo wrote: post #142
lukakopajtic wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wrote one of the solutions as if it conflicts with the other one. Let's raise the tax on an activity according to its negative side effects, while pointing out individuals that do a lot of it and dont take personal responsibility.

If you run a company or companies on two coasts and have a wife and family on another continent (say she has her own career and can't move), then what exactly are you supposed to do? I don't know this guy's personal life, but the people I know who fly tons fit into this profile. E.g. the wife can't move because she's a tenured professor at her university, and he's got to be at both offices regularly. He's best qualif…

I can't tell if you're serious or if you really think someone who has a family on another continent and is running two companies on opposite coasts is some kind of victim of their circumstances and needs a special keyboard warrior to comment on HN in support of them, lest they face the consequences of a little more tax that they'll never miss or some social shaming.

I'm sorry, I don't want HN to to be the place where we get into a fight over the mildest inconvenience for people who are already living extravagant lifestyles.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#165

Post by crazygringo »

titzer wrote: post #164
crazygringo wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you run a company or companies on two coasts and have a wife and family on another continent (say she has her own career and can't move), then what exactly are you supposed to do? I don't know this guy's personal life, but the people I know who fly tons fit into this profile. E.g. the wife can't move because she's a tenured professor at her university, and he's got to be at both offices regularly. He's best qualif…

I can't tell if you're serious or if you really think someone who has a family on another continent and is running two companies on opposite coasts is some kind of victim of their circumstances and needs a special keyboard warrior to comment on HN in support of them, lest they face the consequences of a little more tax that they'll never miss or some social shaming. I'm sorry, I don't want HN to to be the place where…

I think you've misunderstood me.

I suggested raising taxes in the first place.

What I'm opposed to is some hand-wavy demand to "take personal responsibility" without suggesting exactly what they're supposed to do and whether any tradeoffs involved are reasonable.

And please don't call people names. You can write comments here without calling other people "keyboard warriors". Nor is it helpful to try to shut down some viewpoint by claiming that somebody doesn't need any extra support.

And I think most people would consider not seeing their family more than e.g. four times a year more than just the "mildest inconvenience".

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#166

Post by crazygringo »

tasuki wrote: post #154
crazygringo wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to reduce air travel for environmental reasons, then tax it more. Shaming individuals doesn't seem to be productive or helpful. Air travel works for people if the benefits outweigh the costs. The only thing that changes behavior is to change the costs. And even if costs were 10x there are still plenty of people who will fly tons, because it would still be economically productive. There are always going to…

> Shaming individuals doesn't seem to be productive or helpful. I don't see any shaming. It was all matter of fact, free from judgement.

What do you think was the purpose of the comment?

Do you think that comparing someone's CO2 emissions with the average and pointing out that it is much higher is value-free, just a totally neutral observation for no reason? That the commenter is fine with it? Or even that it's a good thing?

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#168

Post by lostlogin »

crazygringo wrote: post #165
titzer wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't tell if you're serious or if you really think someone who has a family on another continent and is running two companies on opposite coasts is some kind of victim of their circumstances and needs a special keyboard warrior to comment on HN in support of them, lest they face the consequences of a little more tax that they'll never miss or some social shaming. I'm sorry, I don't want HN to to be the place where…

I think you've misunderstood me. I suggested raising taxes in the first place. What I'm opposed to is some hand-wavy demand to "take personal responsibility" without suggesting exactly what they're supposed to do and whether any tradeoffs involved are reasonable. And please don't call people names. You can write comments here without calling other people "keyboard warriors". Nor is it helpful to try to shut down some…

> I think you've misunderstood me.

Knowing this completely changes the tone, I’d missed that you were that same commenter too.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#169

Post by lostlogin »

gnfargbl wrote: post #98
crazygringo wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to reduce air travel for environmental reasons, then tax it more. Shaming individuals doesn't seem to be productive or helpful. Air travel works for people if the benefits outweigh the costs. The only thing that changes behavior is to change the costs. And even if costs were 10x there are still plenty of people who will fly tons, because it would still be economically productive. There are always going to…

> Shaming individuals doesn't seem to be productive or helpful. I don't see how much support from history for that viewpoint. Some examples of positive societal change driven in part by shaming individuals: drink-driving, civil rights, sexual harassment, automobile safety, the slave trade, McCarthyism.

> drink-driving, civil rights, sexual harassment, automobile safety, the slave trade, McCarthyism.

This hasn’t been a good few years for your examples.

Re: I put my whole life into a single database

#170

Post by [deleted] »

lejalv wrote: post #38

A simple back of the envelope calculation shows that Felix causes between 70 and 110 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year just from flying. Paris accord says 1.5t per person per year, from all activities, Felix's flying alonre is ~10-15x current European yearly per person emissions and ~50-75x those compatible with +1.5C.

[deleted]
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