Technology puts an end to our excuses

“I won't be coming tonight. I'm tired, sorry.” Being tired was always a great excuse—almost a classic. Except these days, your smartwatch has something to say about that. Your sleep score from last night: 95 percent. You've been completely taken down by your own wrist. Technology is putting an end to our excuses.

It’s over. Our culture of excuses is a thing of the past. Back in the day, we could still say we “didn’t know.” Now we have dashboards, graphs, notifications, reminders, and algorithms that kindly tell us how things really are. That might just be the annoying thing about technology. It’s getting better and better at gathering evidence.

Your smartwatch knows how well you slept. Strava knows if you really went for a run that morning. Google Maps knows what time you left and how long you were on the road. Your banking app knows what you’re spending your money on. Your phone knows how many hours you’ve spent scrolling. Your grocery app knows how many bags of chips are in the cupboard—if they’re still there, that is.

And so you can’t fool yourself or others as easily as you used to.

“I didn’t have time.” Your calendar says you did.

“I’m just tired.” Your watch says you’re not.

“I don’t spend that much money.” Your banking app starts to laugh.

“I’m almost never on my phone.” Screen time: seven hours and 42 minutes.

Scenario 1: we become honest people

It’s almost inevitable that this new way of life—with a whole army of devices tracking us—will have an impact on our behavior. In my view, things could go in two directions from here on out. The first scenario is perhaps the most obvious: we’ll become more honest people. If our smartwatch, banking app, and fitness app constantly hold up a mirror to us, it’ll become increasingly difficult to fool ourselves. The technology then acts as a kind of conscience.

Scenario 2: evidence locked away

But there’s also a second scenario. And it’s a lot less pleasant. Maybe we’ll decide not to change our behavior, but to hide the evidence better. Lock that data away! You know full well you didn’t hit your step goal, but you can still brag to your partner. Maybe you ate too many cookies and chips this week; you certainly don’t want your dietitian to see everything your grocery app is tracking. And if someone asks why you’re not coming to the fair tonight, we’ll just fall back on the classic excuse. “Tired, sorry.”

Personally, I’m a fan of scenario 1. Although that does mean I’ll have to face the music too. Then it’ll be hard for me to keep pretending I’m doing healthy grocery shopping.

Time will tell which way the coin will land.