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The Making of a Dumb Datum

Imagine 10,000 years in the future. Two archaeologists are digging a site, and they find the remains of human bones. They take those remains to the lab, perform tests on them, and try to reconstruct the habits and lifestyle of that human. Say those bones belong to me. They are trying to find out my story, how I lived, what I ate, where I traveled, etc. Once they find all the info they need, they toss it into a museum where they store all other such ancient human remains they find. I was essentially one data point to them in trying to understand how humanity evolved over time. Or I can also call myself a “datum”, the singular form of data, literally one piece of information to solve a bigger puzzle. Honestly, I don’t need 10,000 years to become a datum. I am already a part of several datasets people use these days to study many things. So for that objective learner, I am already a datum. Now let me get to how I got the dumb part of it. I have had an interesting and eventful life so far...
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Ice Cream

I caught myself falling back into my unhealthy eating habits. It all started after my recent race. Despite a PR, I had finished it with cramps and I dropped the pace in the last 3-4 miles. So, it gave way to an unhelpful story in my brain that I am an imposter and cramps are the proof that I haven’t trained well enough. I failed to incorporate strength training and hill repeats in my workouts, which only adds strength to my brain’s argument. So, I sought some escape from these thoughts in the form of an extra ice-cream cone today. But ice cream never gives an escape, it only gives a tummy ache. At least this tummy ache makes me sit and reflect.

I did mess up my training a bit, but I also think I did my best with whatever time and resources I had. I am grateful for the 1500+ miles I ran this year, which definitely improved me as a runner and a person, at least by a tiny bit. I might again bonk out and get cramps in my marathon next month, but I now know in advance what to expect. Eating ice cream and self-criticism is not going to save me from that ordeal anyways. 

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The Making of a Dumb Datum

Imagine 10,000 years in the future. Two archaeologists are digging a site, and they find the remains of human bones. They take those remains to the lab, perform tests on them, and try to reconstruct the habits and lifestyle of that human. Say those bones belong to me. They are trying to find out my story, how I lived, what I ate, where I traveled, etc. Once they find all the info they need, they toss it into a museum where they store all other such ancient human remains they find. I was essentially one data point to them in trying to understand how humanity evolved over time. Or I can also call myself a “datum”, the singular form of data, literally one piece of information to solve a bigger puzzle. Honestly, I don’t need 10,000 years to become a datum. I am already a part of several datasets people use these days to study many things. So for that objective learner, I am already a datum. Now let me get to how I got the dumb part of it. I have had an interesting and eventful life so far...
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