The dangers of obsessing over metrics

逃离量化的陷阱

Babbage from The Economist

2026-03-18

37 分钟
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单集简介 ...

The mechanisms of games are often used to motivate people—from tracking health to scrolling social media feeds and even the way school is graded. But C. Thi Nguyen is worried we’re over-obsessing about keeping score. He wants us to focus more on the things we enjoy doing, rather than letting metrics hijack our lives. Guests and hosts: - C. Thi Nguyen, a philosopher at the University of Utah and author of “The Score” - Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor Topics covered: - Games - Metrics - Social media Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
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单集文稿 ...

  • If you want to get better at something, it helps to have a way to measure it.

  • But have you ever found yourself obsessing over your scores?

  • Those miles on your fitness tracker.

  • I am obsessed with this thing.

  • Keeps me accountable.

  • Your likes on Instagram.

  • I would love more than anything to increase my followers to like 10,000.

  • Or even your grades at school.

  • Anything other than an A star, I would have been intense.

  • Have you found yourself losing sight of the reason you started measuring something

  • and become focused only on the measurement itself?

  • All right, so almost at 7,000 steps at 9 o'clock.

  • I'll just walk in a circle around my house.

  • Let's be clear, it's possible to measure and collect points on so many things these days.

  • And that's because it's a mechanic that we know well and enjoy from playing games.

  • Sports, races, board games, card games, these are all fun, immersive, and challenging experiences.

  • What if I moved this one here?

  • Yeah, that's a good move.

  • And because they allow us to measure wins, fails, and progress, they can be pretty addictive too.

  • What if I do this?