Aldous Huxley's Three Directions and a Dinner Conversation

A.J. Jacobs’ article, “The Overly Documented Life” fits Aldous Huxley’s three directions flawlessly.  First of all, his writing is completely personal, with the entire story focusing on his own life.  Although Jacobs includes some factual information in the introduction, the majority of the article includes personal experiences regarding the use of a small camera called a Looxcie.  The article focuses on the author and his own interactions with other people, especially with regards to his lifelogging.  Therefore, it is written entirely in first person, in order to give the reader a more personal perspective. 

Jacobs starts off by writing about the historical background regarding the human memory.  In contrast to the remainder of the article, the introduction is quite objective.  This fits into another one of Huxley’s three directions.  Finally, the universal or poetic aspect of the article fits into Huxley’s last remaining direction.  In this case, the universal aspect is seen through the common struggle to remember past events.  Jacobs discusses many events, such as marital quarrels or misplacing items, which help create a universal atmosphere for all readers.  He is able to create this atmosphere, because all of the circumstances are experienced by everyone in their everyday life.  Even though Jacobs is writing in an autobiographical manner, he still is able to connect to all readers in an abstract fashion through the introduction of relatable circumstances.    

In addition to Jacobs’ inquiry driven article fitting Aldous Huxley’s three directions, his writing also exhibits the dinner conversation model.  Jacobs, as the head of the dinner table, invites many guests to add to his personal quest in lifelogging.  His guests include people such as his wife, many friends, and even a random guy in a bathroom.  All of these guests add a different perspective and viewpoint with regards to Jacobs’ filming adventure.  Some people support the idea of filming everything, while others severely critique his lifelogging.  Regardless of their opinions, the guests bring up new ideas and ask further questions, sometimes returning to the original problem.  Returning to the original question, which is “How can lifelogging benefit daily life” is a primary characteristic of the dinner conversation model, which is fully encompassed by this article.