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A comment on I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year. Parent comment

Re:I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the who... by ChrisLomont on Sunday January 03, 2021 @01:22PM (#25623686)
> this drive to amass data will only lead to human suffering and oppression down the line

On a large scale, science (and economics) is a drive to amass data, which has led to vast reductions in human suffering.

Amassing data lets one (and mankind) make decisions not on random conjecture or feeling, but on a solid footing, which results in better decisions on how to allocate resources. Not gathering data where it's possible to do so results in more human suffering from making sub-optimal decisions from bad inputs.

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Re:I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the who... by snds on Sunday January 03, 2021 @01:27PM (#25623737)
I suspect the parent comment is referring to amassing personally identifiable information
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Re:I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the who... by mlady on Sunday January 03, 2021 @01:26PM (#25623716)
I think there's a sweet spot somewhere. We're tending towards too much data now with hourly employees working from home but have their screens monitored for constant activity, even if it isn't value-producing.
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Re:I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the who... by xkeysc0re on Sunday January 03, 2021 @01:44PM (#25623926)
Exactly. The positivist drive to quantify and accumulate "data points" about everything as though life is just an optimization problem is dangerous and only serves entrenched forces.

Quantification is a means to control. Some things - in my opinion - ought not to be controlled.

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Re:I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the who... by hezag on Sunday January 03, 2021 @01:39PM (#25623881)
> Amassing data lets one (and mankind) make decisions not on random conjecture or feeling, but on a solid footing, which results in better decisions on how to allocate resources

"Better" is extremely relative. Better for whom?

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Re:I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the who... by ChrisLomont on Sunday January 03, 2021 @05:03PM (#25625664)
Well, to start, the tens of billions of people in total that have been fed over the past century by modern farming. The tens of billions total that have been pulled from poverty over the last 50 years. The billions right now getting vastly better medical care than their ancestors.

What percentage of people would you claim worldwide or over the past 100 years are worse off as a result of science and economic advances? Care to list why they're worse off in total?

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