This whole writing encapsulates everything from the McNamara fallacy (what is not observed or qualitative is bad), Goodhart's law (metric gaming) and Campbell's law (everyone wants to game the metric), maybe it is very cynical to think like this, or maybe people just want to "do it the easy way" and not have fun with what they don't enjoy? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law#See_also
Hi Tom - I came across your blog from Mark's Daily Apple of all places. I'm really enjoying your writing. I need a thesaurus handy for a few words, but it's good for my vocabulary! I can strongly relate to this blog post. I've taught a little bit of Mathematics, and there can be beauty in numbers, but as you say, it's not the numbers in and of themselves that is the problem. I've yanked myself out of the depths of most social media platforms, but I dabble in the one for those wishing to tell the world that they exercise, Strava. I can make a fairly strong case that my recent running injuries were a result of wanting to 'post' some good numbers. Injuries are a good opportunity to re-assess, and I feel my philosophy around exercise has progressed as a result. I no longer wear smart watches to track my progress or heart rate. As you touch on, the mind/body and gut feel can tell you far more than any device. As long as I'm breathing through my nose and enjoying the scenery/birdlife, I know I'm on the right path. And as with most things in life, it's sometimes important to stop and ask ourselves, 'why are we doing this'? Is it for the pure joy of the activity or the dopamine spiking likes/comments following a 'good effort'. Anyway, I'm glad I came across your site. Not being on social media can make it difficult to discover new blogs/writers. From another Tom, keep up the good work!
"The goal is creativity, not the mere mechanistic production of ‘content’- a Benthamite word if ever I heard one." Well put.
I loved the parallels between Benthamite ideas and the modern day buzzwords that have become so commonplace I scarcely even notice them, especially on "self-improvement/money/wealth/whatever twitter". It's all so bloody one-note and boring. If I spend more than 10 minutes scrolling I want to throw my phone against the wall and retire to a cave in the mountains.
But without it, I would never have discovered your writing, or the many other interesting thinkers on there. Such is the struggle.
Great article, happy to see the list keeps growing.
This whole writing encapsulates everything from the McNamara fallacy (what is not observed or qualitative is bad), Goodhart's law (metric gaming) and Campbell's law (everyone wants to game the metric), maybe it is very cynical to think like this, or maybe people just want to "do it the easy way" and not have fun with what they don't enjoy? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law#See_also
This whole problem is even being dissected by Collen of Desystemize, and in a non-science way of describing a way of "out-numbering the numbers" is this: (a) have multiple sets of metrics or heuristics that often complement each other in ways that negate each others risk of becoming tyrannical, and (b) practice observing for more qualitative or categorical heuristics. https://desystemize.substack.com/p/desystemize-8/comments https://swellandcut.com/2017/09/04/the-five-types-of-paired-indicators/
Hi Tom - I came across your blog from Mark's Daily Apple of all places. I'm really enjoying your writing. I need a thesaurus handy for a few words, but it's good for my vocabulary! I can strongly relate to this blog post. I've taught a little bit of Mathematics, and there can be beauty in numbers, but as you say, it's not the numbers in and of themselves that is the problem. I've yanked myself out of the depths of most social media platforms, but I dabble in the one for those wishing to tell the world that they exercise, Strava. I can make a fairly strong case that my recent running injuries were a result of wanting to 'post' some good numbers. Injuries are a good opportunity to re-assess, and I feel my philosophy around exercise has progressed as a result. I no longer wear smart watches to track my progress or heart rate. As you touch on, the mind/body and gut feel can tell you far more than any device. As long as I'm breathing through my nose and enjoying the scenery/birdlife, I know I'm on the right path. And as with most things in life, it's sometimes important to stop and ask ourselves, 'why are we doing this'? Is it for the pure joy of the activity or the dopamine spiking likes/comments following a 'good effort'. Anyway, I'm glad I came across your site. Not being on social media can make it difficult to discover new blogs/writers. From another Tom, keep up the good work!
“The path to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. I disagree. I say that the path to hell is paved with numbers.”
This is OG shit. Loved that opening.
"The goal is creativity, not the mere mechanistic production of ‘content’- a Benthamite word if ever I heard one." Well put.
I loved the parallels between Benthamite ideas and the modern day buzzwords that have become so commonplace I scarcely even notice them, especially on "self-improvement/money/wealth/whatever twitter". It's all so bloody one-note and boring. If I spend more than 10 minutes scrolling I want to throw my phone against the wall and retire to a cave in the mountains.
But without it, I would never have discovered your writing, or the many other interesting thinkers on there. Such is the struggle.
Great article, happy to see the list keeps growing.
All the best!