This document discusses the relationship between self-quantifying technologies and the self through the lens of agential realism. It explores how these technologies can be seen as forms of discourse that enable and constrain what can be said about the self, and how they help produce both the object and subject of measurement. The document also examines how self-tracking tools can act as "apparatuses" that give meaning to self-improvement while materializing parts of the self. Finally, it considers how these technologies may reflect and shape the "agential cuts" people make in defining and understanding their self.

2. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-QUANTIFYING
TECHNOLOGIES AND THE SELF?
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
INTERVIEWS
QS WEB FORUMS

3. AGENTIAL REALISM
(KAREN BARAD)
INTRA-ACTION
(MATERIAL-DISCURSIVE PRACTICES)
DISCOURSE APPARATUS
AGENTIAL CUTTING
PHENOMENA

4. QUANTUM PHYSICS 101
FARZANA DUDHWALA AND YOUTUBE PRESENTA DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE PRODUCTION
FEATURING DR QUANTUM EXPLAINING THE DOUBLE SLIT EXPERIMENTS BASED ON A TRUE STORY
www.whatthebleep.com/down-the-rabbit-hole/

5. Starring:
Albert Einstein
Dr.Quantum
Niels Bohr
Werner Heisenberg
Niels Bohr (Again)
Observation
Double Slit Experiments
Copenhagen Interpretation
Uncertainty Principle
Problem of Indeterminacy
QUANTUM PHYSICS 101
DISCLAIMER: FARZANA DUDHWALA IS NOTA QUANTUM PHYSICIST. THE CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN THIS SHORT INTERLUDE MAY HAVE BEEN
APPROPRIATED FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE PURPOSES.

6. AGENTIAL REALISM
INTRA-ACTION
(MATERIAL-DISCURSIVE PRACTICES)
DISCOURSE APPARATUS
AGENTIAL CUTTING
PHENOMENA

7. DISCOURSE
“Discourse is not what is said; it is that which constrains and enables what can be
said…discursive practices produce,rather than merely describe,the “subjects” and
“objects” of knowledge practices." (Barad 2003:819)
• Can self-quantifying technologies be seen as a form of
discourse which enable or constrain what can be said?
• Could they be seen as pivotal in producing both the object of
measurement as well as the subject that is doing the
measurement?

8. DISCOURSE
One cup of coffee
Meal was quite low in carbohydrates for lunch
Walked quite briskly to the coffee shop
Coffee was a large cup
Meal was in cafe - more sugar than usual
Walk *may* have been slower than he would have liked

9. DISCOURSE
"I use the watch as a rough guide - what I'm trying to do
right now is gage it against my mental feelings - ‘does that
fit?’
!
And so far it's been pretty good - and so as I start to trust it
more as a guide, I might give it more weighting - but I'll
never probably give it absolute weighting - and what it's
not saying is ‘for the next three days stay home, don't go
out,don't go to work’…just that I should take it easy..."

10. APPARATUS
“…apparatuses are not mere static arrangements in the world,but rather apparatuses
are dynamic (re)configurings of the world,specific agential practices/intra-actions/
performances through which specific exclusionary boundaries are enacted.” (Barad
2003:816)
• Can self-quantifying technologies be seen as
'apparatuses'?
• Can they be seen as giving meaning to the self/self-
improvement and at the same time be involved in
materialising or constituting a crucial part of the self/self-
improvement?

11. APPARATUS
[Hayley] uses an app on her iPhone called MapMyRide to track her bicycle
ride into work each morning. She felt as though her cycle took effort and she
commended herself for doing it each morning. It made her feel good about
her commute.

12. APPARATUS
[James] uses a breath-analyser to measure his VO2
capacity. When he first took the test it told him that his
VO2 capacity is 38. He bought a device which provided
some resistance to his breathing and taught him how
to take in more oxygen per breath. He took the VO2
test again after a month of using his breathing device
and the breath-analyser told him that he now has a
VO2 capacity of 41. He is "proud to have improved
this”…

13. AGENTIAL REALISM
INTRA-ACTION
(MATERIAL-DISCURSIVE PRACTICES)
DISCOURSE APPARATUS
AGENTIAL CUTTING
PHENOMENA

14. AGENTIAL CUTTING
“Agential cuts do not mark some absolute separation but a cutting together/
apart – a “‘holding together’ of the disparate itself..."(Barad 2012:46)
• What agential cuts are made when drawing a boundary
around what the 'self' encompasses?
• Is it possible to know other peoples' agential cuts - what
they have separated and what they are trying to hold
together?
• How can we set about knowing these cuts?

15. AGENTIAL CUTTING
‘Every morning…I record a lot of things from the previous day,
from all the food I ate, money that I’ve spent or received, I record
socialising that I did, I create like a general log of…my activities,
any health issues and a few other things. I review mood, too, and
one of the things that I’ve gotten the most insight from is that
I’ve started making a list of goals as part of that morning
process...”

16. AGENTIAL CUTTING
"I track on a daily basis: weight, body fat,
blood glucose and blood pressure - I used to
track amount of sleep, too, but not any more.
I put this info in a spreadsheet and made
some comments - 'oh this day I was feeling
like this' and I also check off if I had alcohol
the night before and so on..."

17. AGENTIAL CUTTING
• What agential cuts are made when drawing a boundary
around what the 'self' encompasses?
• Is it possible to know other peoples' agential cuts - what
they have separated and what they are trying to hold
together?
• How can we set about knowing these cuts?

18. SELF-QUANTIFYING TECHNOLOGIES
AND THE SELF
Fluid Boundaries
!
Finding out about your’self’ —> Enacting your’selves’
!
Agential cutting —> Agential marking
!
Self-quantifying technologies —> Numbers —> Agential Marking?

19. SELF-QUANTIFYING TECHNOLOGIES
AND THE SELF
FARZANA DUDHWALA