TECH SHORTCUTS FOR LIFE

How to See If Facebook’s Algorithms Think You’ve ‘Established Adult Life’

And other things you can learn about yourself from the copious amount of data companies collect about you

Thomas Smith
Debugger
Published in
7 min readFeb 15, 2021

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Animation by Julia Moburg for Debugger

Tech Shortcuts for Life is a weekly column from Thomas Smith on Debugger exploring the apps, automations, gadgets, and other tech tricks that can make your life more efficient.

“Know thyself.”

Ever since those words were chiseled into the forecourt of the ancient Greek Temple of Apollo, people have been repeating them and advocating for self-knowledge. Socrates famously added that “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Although, he was put to death shortly after saying that. So maybe take his advice with a grain of salt.

Either way, though, knowing yourself is hard. Have you ever had someone ask you a simple question like, “What’s your favorite movie?” or “What foods do you like?” — only to draw a total blank and stammer something like, “Umm, chicken?” I know I have. Self-knowledge can require a ton of hard work and introspection — journaling, meditation, soul-searching, spirit quests. Not everyone has the time for that.

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Debugger
Debugger

Published in Debugger

Debugger is a former publication from Medium about consumer technology and gadgets. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Thomas Smith
Thomas Smith

Written by Thomas Smith

CEO of Gado Images | Content Consultant | Covers tech, food, AI & photography | http://bayareatelegraph.com & http://nofrillsinfluencer.com | tom@gadoimages.com