The Quantified Self: Learning to Observe
Book talk by author Gary Wolf, in conversation with June Cohen
Wednesday, November 4, 6:30 PM
Village Well Books & Coffee
9900 Culver Blvd, Culver City
With so much advice about how to sleep, eat, work, connect, and feel better, how can we determine what genuinely improves our lives? Join author Gary Wolf in conversation with TED Talks co-creator June Cohen for a conversation about what happens when we bring a scientific mindset to everyday experience.
Gary cofounded the Quantified Self movement 18 years ago, and over the last two decades it has introduced the idea of self-tracking with technology to millions. Now that nearly 40% of U.S. adults wear their self-tracker at least five days a week, it's time to find out: What have we learned? The Quantified Self: Learning to Observe explores how careful observation and personal data can help us answer questions about our own health and daily lives.
Gary will be in conversation with June Cohen, author of The Great Remembering: Powerful Ancient Practices—and the New Science Bringing Them Back. June's book examines the ancient practices that helped humans flourish for millennia—and the emerging science revealing why they still matter.
Together, these longtime friends will explore what technology can teach us, what older traditions can help us recover, and how to cut through competing claims to discover what truly works for us. The result is a practical and thought-provoking conversation about science, memory, observation, and personal discovery.
FROM THE BOOK JACKET
THE QUANTIFIED SELF is a groundbreaking guide to scientific reasoning at the scale of a single life. Based on nearly two decades of work in the Quantified Self community, it distills the techniques of empirical observation into practical patterns anyone can use. With chapters on pain, mood, sleep, digestion, heart rate, hormones, and more, The Quantified Self proves that science is for everybody by showing how to make discoveries about your own life from your own data.
Science journalist Gary Wolf cofounded Quantified Self in 2008 and has spent the years since helping people develop and present their self-research projects. With his colleagues in the Personal Science Research Group—a collaboration that brings together engineering, health care, patient advocacy, and data science—Wolf has shaped the evidence from thousands of small experiments into a step-by-step method that takes just a few minutes each day.
A mathematician uncovers the hidden sleep problem behind his brain fog. A mother spots a blood-glucose pattern in her five-year-old that points to trouble at school. A teenager decides for herself whether hormonal birth control is helping her acne. Dozens of first-person stories ground the book's techniques in a real-world context while offering an inspiring look at the creativity, courage, humor, and ingenuity of personal science practice around the world.
There is no single protocol that works for everyone. The Quantified Self offers something seismic—an individualized approach that teaches readers how to bring a scientific mindset to their questions about mind, body, work, and life.
Gary Wolf
Gary Wolf is a Kavli Science Journalism Award winner, a former Knight Fellow at Stanford University, and the director of the Article 27 Foundation, which champions participation in science.
June Cohen
June Cohen is a pioneer in media and technology, best known as the co-creator of TED Talks, Masters of Scale, and Meditative Story. She's earned 100+ industry awards for her work, including 67 Webby honors, 8 Apple "Podcast of the Year" Awards, and a Peabody.