The New Society | culture from the New Statesman Metrics now control our lives
Mar 7, 2026
C. Thi Nguyen, philosopher and professor at the University of Utah and author of The Score, studies games, gamification, and how metrics shape social life. He talks about how likes, rankings and single numbers hijack judgment. He traces why institutions prefer simple counts, when metrics help large systems, and what gets lost when life is reduced to scores.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Viral Tweet Hooked Him On Likes
- C. Thi Nguyen went viral on Twitter after posting a dumb joke about praising his tea and then found himself chasing likes instead of connection.
- The viral hit shifted his attention from small conversations to seeking the next algorithmic reward, illustrating metric-driven behavior.
Universities Prioritize What Can Be Counted
- Universities convert complex educational goals into easy measurable outcomes like graduation speed or LSAT gains.
- That shift silences talk of curiosity or reflection because policy and funding privilege countables.
Customer Trusted Wine Scores Over Taste
- Nguyen recalls a wine-shop customer who asked only for 90 point wines because he couldn't tell his own taste.
- The customer admitted he used scores to avoid deciding what he liked, showing metrics replacing personal judgment.
