The inevitable weakness of metrics
MIT Technology Review Narrated

The inevitable weakness of metrics

C1AdvancedAugust 5, 202620 min

Quantifying our lives is easier than it’s ever been. But a philosopher of games warns that external metrics and data can never capture what’s truly important. This story was written by Bryan Gardiner and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com. Listen to more of the world's best journalism on the Noa app.

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My name is Matt Honan. I'm our Editor-in-Chief.

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0:00

Welcome to MIT Technology Review Narrated. My name is Matt Honan. I'm our Editor-in-Chief. Every week, we'll bring you a fascinating, new, in-depth story from the leading edge of science and technology, covering topics like AI, biotech, climate, energy, robotics, and more.

0:18

Here's this week's story. I hope you enjoy it. TheInevitableWeaknessOfMetrics bitten by the self-quantifying bug, I initially started gathering personal data to pursue a nebulous collection of goals and desires. As a sedentary technology journalist, I wanted to feel better

1:12

physically and emotionally, to get outside more, and, where possible, to bring order to some of the messiness and uncertainty of my daily existence. These all seemed to be things that could be improved with the cool clarity of numbers. Self-quantifiers often get stereotyped as obsessive self-optimizers, and many of them are, but my reasons for producing and collecting

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