Wellknowlogy: 11/18/22

Being human in a tech-driven world

Author

Dayton Simenz
November 18, 2022

Wellknowlogy is a curious, honest, and caring source of weekly news & thoughts on innovations in the wellness industry; an efficient way for providers, technologists, investors, and enthusiasts to stay in sync and informed about endeavors to increase wellbeing. For more context surrounding Wellknowlogy, the motives behind it, and its purpose, check out Why Wellknowlogy. For filtered information concerning your particular venture, reach out to [email protected]

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The thoughts below stem from an article I came across about a new meditation enhancing headband. It's products like these that trigger my excitement and intrigue around wellness and the tech surrounding it, as they're intertwined with many questions  whose answers can only be uncovered with time:

In the pursuit of wellness, what is the difference between a tool and a crutch? When is it ok to use technology and modern resources to support my wellbeing and personhood? Are people reliant on modern technologies as human as those that existed hundreds of  years ago?

These are questions I toss around a lot. I struggle to find a conclusive answer. If anything, this sort of investigation only inspires further questioning. 

In this case, it seems like the difference between a tool and a crutch largely depends on the context surrounding your flavor of wellness and the functional ends that you would like to achieve.

If meditation is your tool for temporary release and that's the extent of it, the meditation enhancing headband seems like a nice instrument to push you towards that aim. However, if your intentions with meditation include improving focus, independence, and self-attunement that goes beyond the length of your time on the cushion (or chair. or floor...), then a headband using external stimuli to capture and augment your attention may actually be a crutch that inhibits your growth.

To take it a step further, it's worth mentioning that the role of external tools in your wellness journey also depends on something much broader: your conception of personhood.

The introduction of non-biological, modern technology at any level is enough to push some people away, believing that modern technology is already too pervasive. They identify with and seek to preserve their biological humanity, viewing new technologies and innovations as inherently separate from the human essence.

This lies in stark contrast with a conception of personhood that believes technology is intrinsic to what makes us human. Instead of desiring for be independent of modern technology, people with this view may seek to be well-prepared to be a human in a technology-based life. Given that the use of tools has been inherent to people for millennia, they may see technology as an inherent (and perfectly human) part of maintaining their function, form, and zest for life.

To be clear, none of this is meant to offer an answer or persuade you in one direction or another. Rather, I think these are interesting structures that lie behind peoples' intuitive reactions to technology interacting with intimate aspects of the human experience, even when they may not be explicitly recognized.

With that out of the way, here's what happened last week:

Neat Articles

Market News

Fundings

New funds:

Tidbits for You and Yours

Closing Kernel of Wisdom

RAIN: Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture

You got to the end! Nice. I don't charge for this, but if you value this enough to give me money, feel free to do so — my venmo is @dsimenz. Also, please forward this to anyone that may appreciate it. I'll give them a button below to check out previous emails and add them to the list:

Wishing you a great week to come.

Warmly,

Dayton