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Wearables, biohacking and the idea of “body futurism” · Digg

Wearables, biohacking and the idea of “body futurism”

In an a16z conversation, cyber ethnographer Ruby Justice Thelot frames app dashboards and longevity clinics as examples of technology’s optimization mindset turning toward the body.

a16z quotes Ruby Justice Thelot arguing that the decades-old “quantified self” idea is only now being fully realized as more adults adopt wearables to control, understand and improve their bodies. He draws on Toby Shorin’s concept of “body futurism”: shifting the focus of innovation from silicon to the body. The wider conversation explores how Thelot uses TikTok trend analysis to distinguish genuine cultural shifts from manufactured ones, with wellness as its focus.

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Wearables, biohacking and the idea of “body futurism”

In an a16z conversation, cyber ethnographer Ruby Justice Thelot frames app dashboards and longevity clinics as examples of technology’s optimization mindset turning toward the body.

a16z quotes Ruby Justice Thelot arguing that the decades-old “quantified self” idea is only now being fully realized as more adults adopt wearables to control, understand and improve their bodies. He draws on Toby Shorin’s concept of “body futurism”: shifting the focus of innovation from silicon to the body. The wider conversation explores how Thelot uses TikTok trend analysis to distinguish genuine cultural shifts from manufactured ones, with wellness as its focus.

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a16z@a16z 15 hrs ago
Ruby Justice Thelot on wearables, biohacking, and the rise of body optimization: "The Fitbit is launched in 2007... That idea of a quantified self has been with us for like 20 years... I feel like it's only being fully realized now, 20 years later." "Slowly, through proper…
- likes: 41
- replies: 9
- bookmarks: 13
- reposts: 5

Combined views

23.9K

1 post, first seen 15h ago

41 likes9 comments13 saves5 reposts

Source Posts

@a16zRuby Justice Thelot on wearables, biohacking, and the rise of body optimization: "The Fitbit is launched in 2007... That idea of a quantified self has been with us for like 20 years... I feel like it's only being fully realized now, 20 years later." "Slowly, through proper product development and slow adoption, we're seeing more and more adults adopt wearables as a way to control, understand, and improve their bodies." "An idea that I like a lot around this concept of quantification of the self is the idea of body futurism by Toby Shorin." "He says, 'Once we've reached the limits of innovation in silicon, we turn the microscope towards ourself and try to optimize and innovate on the body.' And that's what he calls body futurism." "When I think about these dashboards that people have on these apps, waking up, going to your longevity clinic, even something like Don't Die, this is body futurism." "The idea that you can use the same tools we did to make amazing phones, amazing tech, and revolutionize our external world, now we're trying to revolutionize our corporeal world, our internal world, and our organs and whatnot." @being_on_line

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Posts from X

1 post

A1
a16z@a16z 15 hrs ago
Ruby Justice Thelot on wearables, biohacking, and the rise of body optimization: "The Fitbit is launched in 2007... That idea of a quantified self has been with us for like 20 years... I feel like it's only being fully realized now, 20 years later." "Slowly, through proper…
- likes: 41
- replies: 9
- bookmarks: 13
- reposts: 5

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Not enough discussion yet.

No sentiment analysis available yet.

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