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Perception of quality is subjective. An objective measurement of quality would be how well something fits a set of requirements. Something fitting that definiti

Perception of quality is subjective. An objective measurement of quality would be how well something fits a set of requirements. Something fitting that definition of "quality" could still be perceived as low-quality, of course, but I think that's a different question.

troymc 9y ago
That's _not_ what the book concluded. One of Phaedrus' realizations was that quality is neither subjective (depending on the judge) nor objective (an objective fact, like the mass of a book in kilograms).
- khedoros1 9y ago
  I never said that it was. I've never read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The previous comment asked for a definition of quality. I provided one that made sense to me. > One of Phaedrus' realizations was that quality is neither subjective (depending on the judge) nor objective (an objective fact, like the mass of a book in kilograms). Sounds like a contradiction in terms, like a binary value that's neither true nor false. Unless the conclusion was that quality is a composite of some objective properties and some subjective ones.
abritinthebay 9y ago
That would be a subjective definition not an objective one. How “well” something fits is absolutely subjective. It’s a judgement call with no objective measure.
- khedoros1 9y ago
  I think that you read my comment in a way that I didn't intend. "How well" would probably be better phrased as "whether", because "how well" implies a non-binary state. I was picturing a requirements list of numerical ranges, which a specific unit of a product must satisfy. "How well" is what came to mind when I pictured a unit that nearly exceeded the limits of its requirements, compared to a unit that sat perfectly in the middle of the range of every requirement. I never pictured any kind of "judgement call", and I'd hoped that would be clear, in the context that I'd set, talking about objective measurements of quality.

troymc 9y ago

That's _not_ what the book concluded. One of Phaedrus' realizations was that quality is neither subjective (depending on the judge) nor objective (an objective fact, like the mass of a book in kilograms).

khedoros1 9y ago
I never said that it was. I've never read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The previous comment asked for a definition of quality. I provided one that made sense to me. > One of Phaedrus' realizations was that quality is neither subjective (depending on the judge) nor objective (an objective fact, like the mass of a book in kilograms). Sounds like a contradiction in terms, like a binary value that's neither true nor false. Unless the conclusion was that quality is a composite of some objective properties and some subjective ones.

abritinthebay 9y ago

That would be a subjective definition not an objective one. How “well” something fits is absolutely subjective. It’s a judgement call with no objective measure.

khedoros1 9y ago
I think that you read my comment in a way that I didn't intend. "How well" would probably be better phrased as "whether", because "how well" implies a non-binary state. I was picturing a requirements list of numerical ranges, which a specific unit of a product must satisfy. "How well" is what came to mind when I pictured a unit that nearly exceeded the limits of its requirements, compared to a unit that sat perfectly in the middle of the range of every requirement. I never pictured any kind of "judgement call", and I'd hoped that would be clear, in the context that I'd set, talking about objective measurements of quality.