It happens all the time. I’m standing on a badminton court or at a trailhead waiting for the person I’m playing or hiking with to activate their smart watch so they can count their steps before we begin.

I’m trying to remember when data became such an obsession. It probably started with the advent of the world wide web and eCommerce in the early 2000s, but the infiltration of data into corporations and now our personal lives became omnipresent about a decade ago.

We are living in an unprecedented era of information explosion. Big data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence now dominate our daily lives. In our personal lives, we track steps, activity levels, the number of hours we sleep, heart rates.

Insurance companies track our driving habits with the carrot of paying less in premiums if you’re a good driver. Streaming services deliver a carefully crafted menu selection based on our viewing habits and ads with a QR code to buy now. Corporations track every click of a mouse and minute of the day of their employees in the pursuit of maximum performance and profit.

We have become a society obsessed with measurement. As my friend Ron Tite recently said, “We used to live life. Now we measure it.”

Have we gone too far?

There is a private Toronto clinic offering whole body MRI scans to anyone who walks in their door. When I first saw the ads on TV, I shook my head in disbelief. Why would you get an MRI if you didn’t need one?

When the Jays were in the World Series last year, we had one of our neighbours over who is a cardiologist to watch the game. The ad for this clinic came on and I asked my neighbour what he thought of people getting MRIs to see if there is anything wrong with them. Our doctor friend said it was a terrible idea. MRIs are only necessary and effective if there is a health condition you are trying to diagnose or monitor. Viewing an MRI when there is no presenting symptoms or issues is like going on a fishing expedition. Our neighbour said 5-10% of all MRIs will flag an issue when there is nothing wrong which could cause misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatment and unnecessary stress.

I am not against data. Data helps companies make smart business decisions. It helps save lives. I am grateful for my annual mammograms. I think it’s wonderful diabetes patients can monitor their sugar levels through their phone.

But I refuse to let data rule my life. I would prefer to walk when my body feels the need for exercise and fresh air and not worry about the number of steps I take. I prefer to write what I want to write without basing my content on the number of views or likes the piece gets. Numbers are not always the best measurement of value.

I prefer to live life than measure it.