From performance to presence: Rethinking health between biological robustness and technological illusion

In a contemporary scientific and intellectual landscape marked by growing instability and unprecedented systemic complexity, this article explores the fundamental tensions between two emerging health paradigms: biological optimization (or biohacking), which focuses on performance through data, and sustainable health approaches, which center on the intrinsic robustness of living organisms.

Far from a binary indictment, our analysis highlights that while connected self-monitoring can serve as a lever for understanding and an educational biofeedback tool, its systematic and unsupervised use risks inducing an “externalization of sensation.” By delegating interoception to technical interfaces that are often heterogeneous and unreliable, the individual exposes themselves to a form of alienation where numbers supplant bodily awareness, leading to both physical and psychological distress. Through the concepts of robustness (Olivier Hamant), balance of brain potentials (Fanny Nusbaum), the law of hormesis (Edward J. Calabrese), and narrative medicine (Laurence Verneuil), we propose to restore technology to its proper role as a supporting tool. The challenge is no longer to “hack” the body like software in order to achieve maximum efficiency, but to restore its plasticity and adaptability in complementarity with allopathic medicine. We advocate for “embodied” health and a contemporary practice of naturopathy where the precision of measurement serves—rather than replaces—the autonomy and presence in the world of the living subject. This reflection thus invites us to move beyond the mere question of health practices in order to more broadly examine the model of society, our relationship to the living world, and the individual and collective responsibility that these choices entail.