Smartphone apps that are transforming us

Alejandro Tejada capellan2000 at gmail.com
Sat Aug 11 16:48:26 EDT 2012


Interesting article written by David H. Freeman
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/06/the-perfected-self/8970/?single_page=true

Dramatic introduction:

"B. F. Skinner’s notorious theory of behavior modification was
denounced by critics 50 years ago as a fascist, manipulative
vehicle for government control. But Skinner’s ideas are making
an unlikely comeback today, powered by smartphone apps that
are transforming us into thinner, richer, all-around-better versions
of ourselves. The only thing we have to give up? Free will."

Interesting Facts:

"studies in the late 1980s and early ’90s established that behavior
analysis, unlike any other treatment, was effective in helping children
with autism communicate, learn, and refrain from violent behavior,
to the extent that some patients shed their diagnosis."

And this is the reason why I posted this article in this mail list:

"But technology is radically lowering that cost barrier. Today, for
absolutely nothing, would-be weight-losers can download many of
the key elements of a Skinnerian behavior-modification program
directly to their phones and computers. One of the most popular
options is Lose It, an app and Web site that allows users to pick
a goal weight and a time line for reaching it, and then formulates
a daily calorie count accordingly. Lose It then lets users track their
eating and physical activity, which they can do by holding their phones
up to a food package’s barcode, or by tapping the screen a few times
at the start and end of a walk (the app offers a range of activity
categories, including guitar strumming, household walking, and sex).
Lose It uses this data to provide clear, graphic feedback on users’ daily
progress—you might see at a glance that having dessert will send your
numbers into the red, but that if you walk for 20 minutes after dessert,
you’ll go back into the green."

In this platform, Kresten Bjerg wrote the application "Phenomenalog"
http://forum.quantifiedself.com/thread-user-driven-development-of-a-freeware-citizen-diary
http://www.phenomenalog.dk
http://www.phenomenalog.wikispaces.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSSovAmShCk

I see in this application the same life changing potential that the
application described in this article. Kresten have asking for help
to anyone interested in participate in the development of this
application.

If you could spare a moment these days, please download
his application and give it a try. You will understand why
I believe that, properly developed, this application will
change for good the life of it's users.

http://www.phenomenalog.dk/downloads.htm

Al




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