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Curiously "single most important" is a qualitative value statement, masquerading as a quantitative statement: it implies a rank-ordering of Most Important Thing
by lukifer 6y ago
Curiously "single most important" is a qualitative value statement, masquerading as a quantitative statement: it implies a rank-ordering of Most Important Things. But there are no measurable, quantifiable units attached to such a list, nor could there be.
It's probably not fair to indict too strongly on this phrase; people use exaggerated language all the time ("X is the best" to mean "X is very very good"), and so reading it as "thinking quantitatively is very very important" seems appropriate.
Nonetheless, as valuable as quantitative thinking is, it has (immeasurable) diminishing returns. It can never be more than a tool to realize our qualitative human values. Somewhere we have to "cash out" the numbers into things we care about, which don't have numbers attached: human dignity; individual autonomy; the look of joy in a child's eyes; the emotional security of family and friends; etc.
- mistermann 6y agoFor sure however... > It's probably not fair to indict too strongly on this phrase; people use exaggerated language all the time ("X is the best" to mean "X is very very good"), and so reading it as "thinking quantitatively is very very important" seems appropriate. To me, the point isn't about pedantic enforcement of grammar and linguistics, but more so about to underlying thinking that this use of language suggests. To what extent does lazy/imprecise/presumptive/forgiving communication and thinking permeate the systems that implement our incredibly technically advanced advanced societies, where it is simultaneously common to find people who smell like pee sleeping on the sidewalk, and hardly anyone bats an eye, or finds the situation even remotely curious? This comment isn't directed at you, it's just more of an esoteric observation.