I'm not disagreeing that it is an indicator, I'm disagreeing that it's an important one. Or, rather, I'm saying that many people treat it as an important one an

I'm not disagreeing that it is an indicator, I'm disagreeing that it's an important one. Or, rather, I'm saying that many people treat it as an important one and they probably shouldn't, because it has some pretty severe and detrimental side-effects when you use it as such an indicator. I think it's kind of like using urination as a measure of hydration in drinks. Yes, it is actually related, but you can drink less- (or de-) hydrating things (beer!), and, you're not drinking things in order to urinate (well, usually). So it correlates, but I would say, is not a good measure of what you actually care about.