KQED's Forum Philosopher C. Thi Nguyen on Freeing Ourselves from Metrics
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Jan 23, 2026 
C. Thi Nguyen, philosopher and author of The Score, explores how rankings and simple metrics can replace our deeper values. He contrasts playful, self-chosen scoring with institutional metrics that hijack meaning. Short, lively takes cover climbing, gamification, screen time, healthcare quotas, and why some measurements make life feel emptier.
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Viral Success Warped Motives
- Nguyen recounts joining Twitter wanting conversations and then becoming obsessed after going viral.
- He spent a year just wanting the number to go up, illustrating social-media value capture.
Choose And Judge Your Games
- Choose scoring systems consciously and evaluate after playing whether they delivered the purpose you wanted.
- If the system gave you fun, keep it; if not, stop or modify it.
Metrics Travel By Losing Context
- Theodore Porter's idea: quantified measures are designed to travel by stripping context and nuance.
- That portability gives metrics social power but also erases what made the original value rich.
