A fascinating insight. I imagine my data would show similar trends as my children were born. Magical times indeed.<p>One of the things I've struggled with (and my brother too) is that it is incredibly hard to resist the urge to share personal information on the internet concerning your children, whether that be their names, experiences, videos or photos.<p>My brother and I came to the conclusion that we should not leak information that could diminish our children's privacy, as they have no power to say anything for or against it.<p>Rather we would refrain completely from divulging any personal data about them, full stop. It is hard though to resist the temptation. You want to shout from the rooftops about the day your child started to walk, or the first time they said 'Papa', or share a video of their first steps.<p>However, our conclusion was that if we put ourselves in their shoes, we would be disappointed that we did not have the opportunity to have our say on the matter. We have their trust, even though they don't realise it yet.<p>So, with the inclusion of social networks like Facebook, we have not shared any information about our children. I don't know if it is the right decision, but I can only hope that not doing something is better than doing something and not being able to take it back.<p>We live in a world that is vastly different from the one our parents grew up in. Privacy today is like gold dust. I hope the next generation can turn the tables on the all seeing eyes, but I fear we have done too little too late.
I read this right after yesterday's article about Chris Knight, "The Last True Hermit". In particular, this part makes an interesting contrast with the quantified self movement.<p>> "But you must have thought about things," I said. "About your life, about the human condition."<p>> Chris became surprisingly introspective. "I did examine myself," he said. "Solitude did increase my perception. But here's the tricky thing—when I applied my increased perception to myself, I lost my identity. With no audience, no one to perform for, I was just there. There was no need to define myself; I became irrelevant. The moon was the minute hand, the seasons the hour hand. I didn't even have a name. I never felt lonely. To put it romantically: I was completely free."
As the father of a six day old I can't but wonder: Is this guy totally checked out in the care of his son? How can you have a newborn baby and not be waking up at all hours of the night?