Life Hacking

Joseph Reagle

Life Hacking: The Quest for an Optimized Life

Joseph Reagle, Northeastern University

https://reagle.org/talk

Joseph Reagle, NEU, Ambivalence Studies

Life hacking

“I am a life hacker”

To an ordinary person, this might seem like a confession of lifelong criminality.

Yes, hackers often have a technical affinity.

And they do like to understand and explore systems.

But for most, a hack means a clever improvement or fix.

Colonization

life hacking is a colonizing discourse. (Thomas (2015), p. 22)

mind hacks
bio hacks
food hacks
productivity hacks
learning hacks
- ProfHacker
- GradHacker
- HackCollege

I’m geeky/hackerish

I like to explore and learn
I think systematically
I believe things can be improved

Two Questions about Lifehacking

Q1. How far is too far?

Mealsquares

Useful or creepy?

15-Minute-Orgasm

The 15 minute female orgasm is a technique described in The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss. Below is the visual summary of that technique.—SarOverSky

Q2. How to do it?

My own mindmap

Okay!

what do you think of “hacks”?
are there other areas or scholars I should explore?
how far is too far?
can I map people to a time?

Thanks!

Credits

Media are linked to their sources in slides, except for the following: