Chris Dancy, the world's most connected person, inspires readers with practical advice to live a happier and healthier life using technology
In 2002, Chris Dancy was overweight, unemployed, and addicted to technology. He chain-smoked cigarettes, popped pills, and was angry and depressed. But when he discovered that his mother kept a record of almost every detail of his childhood, an idea began to form. Could knowing the status of every aspect of his body and how his lifestyle affected his health help him learn to take care of himself? By harnessing the story of his life, could he learn to harness his own bad habits?
With a little tech know-how combined with a healthy dose of reality, every app, sensor, and data point in Dancy's life was turned upside down and examined. Now he's sharing what he knows. That knowledge includes the fact that changing the color of his credit card helps him to use it less often, and that nostalgia is a trigger for gratitude for him.
A modern-day story of rebirth and redemption, Chris' wisdom and insight will show readers how to improve their lives by paying attention to the relationship between how we move, what we eat, who we spend time with, and how it all makes us feel. But Chris has done all the hard work: Don't Unplug shows us how we too can transform our lives.
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Review
"[Dancy] is on the cutting edge." --Wired
"An extreme life hacker." --Bloomberg
"One of the people to seek out if you're looking to innovate in the [tech] space." --Business Insider
"Dancy is the ultimate example of two revolutions underway in tech: the Internet of Things (smart thermostats, garage doors, toothbrushes, tennis racquets) and quantified self (what you learn about yourself from trackers)." - Mashable
"You probably know someone, like Chris Dancy, but not really. Chris Dancy is arguably the most quantified self in America, probably the world." -Marketplace
"One of the reoccurring themes in modern life is the rapid pace of technical innovation. Your top of the line smart phone is never top of the line for very long. The tip of the spear where technology is concerned is Chris Dancy." -BBC
"Technology will continue to play a larger role in our day to day lives, however for [Dancy] that future is now." - WSJ
"Dancy's a pioneer in the "quantified self movement." -NPR
"You might say he's the closest thing to a real-life cyborg." -FoxNews
"He's been called everything from a cyborg to an alien for his extreme data collection routines, but Dancy is the future tech experts say is coming." - Mashable
From the Back Cover
"Don't Unplug" is Dancy's absorbing memoir of his remarkable journey from his Mom's basement to the world stage. His beguiling story becomes an object lesson in how to make your life better with tech, while simultaneously making tech better with your life."
-Alan Cooper-Father of Visaul Basic and Computer History Museum Fellow
"Chris offers a raw and personal view of how technology can consume you and through his experiences offers insights to how you should consume technology to live a healthy life."
-Miriam McLemore, Enterprise Strategist Amazon, former CIO Coca-Cola
"Chris Dancy is a herald of the future we need to build. Don't Unplug is full of powerful stories, valuable insights and practical advice of how to be a better human in a world where the pace of change of technology is only going to increase. Do you want to ride the digital roller-coaster or be ridden? This book will make sure you make the right choice."
-Rohan Gunatillake, Author "This is Happening: Redesigning mindfulness for our very modern lives" and CEO buddhify.
"I listen intently whenever I get to hear him speak as I know what I'm hearing will be the truth rather than beautiful words."
-Kristin Hildebrand, Founder, WONE, former Global Concept Director, Nike
"If you want to optimize human beings for cyborg reality, this is the direction to go."
-Douglas Rushkoff Author "Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus.