The Tyranny of Numbers: Why counting Can’t Make Us Happy - Rilegato

Boyle, David

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0002571579 ISBN 13: 9780002571579

Casa editrice: HarperCollins, 2001

Riassunto

Never before have we attempted to measure as much as we do today. Why are we so obsessed with numbers? What can they really tell us?

Too often we try to quantify what can’t actually be measured. We count people, but not individuals. We count exam results rather than intelligence, benefit claimants instead of poverty. The government has set itself 10,000 new targets. Politicians pack their speeches with skewed statistics: crime rates are either rising or falling depending on who is doing the counting.

We are in a world in which everything designed only to be measured. If it can’t be measured it can be ignored.

But the big problem is what numbers don’t tell you. They won’t interpret. They won’t inspire, and they won’t tell you precisely what causes what.

In this passionately argued and thought-provoking book, David Boyle examines our obsession with numbers. He reminds us of the danger of taking numbers so seriously at the expense of what is non-measurable, non-calculable: intuition, creativity, imagination, happiness…

Counting is a vital human skill. Yardsticks are a vital tool. As long as we remember how limiting they are if we cling to them too closely.

Americans who claim to have been abducted by aliens = 3.7 million

Average time spent by British people in traffic jams every year = 11 days

Number of Americans shot by children under six between 1983 and 1993 = 138, 490

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull?autore

David Boyle is a journalist who has written about new ideas in economics for the past decade in newspapers and magazines all over the world. He is the author of Funny Money (HC Jan 99). Since 1988 he has been editor of New Economics magazine and he has also edited a range of other publications including Town & Country Planning and the Liberal Democrat News. David Boyle is a fellow of the RSA and a well-known figure in organisations such as the New Economics Foundation and Forum for the Future. He has been a Winston Churchill Fellow and is a regular broadcaster on the future of money, cities, economics and a range of other topics.

Dalla quarta di copertina

Never before have we attempted to measure as much as we do today. Why are we so obsessed with numbers? What can they really tell us?

Too often we try to quantify what can't actually be measured. We count people, but not individuals. We count exam results rather than intelligence, benefit claimants instead of poverty. The government has set itself 10,000 new targets. Politicians pack their speeches with skewed statistics: crime rates are either rising or falling depending on who is doing the counting.

We are in a world in which everything is designed only to be measured. If it can't be measured it can be ignored.

But the big problem is what the numbers don't tell you. They won't interpret. They won't inspire, and they won't tell you precisely what causes what.

In this passionately argued and thought provoking book, David Boyle examines our obsession with numbers. He reminds us of the danger of taking numbers so seriously at the expense of what is non-measurable, non-calculable: intuition, creativity, imagination, happiness…

Counting is a vital human skill. Yardsticks are a vital tool. As long as we remember how limiting they are if we cling to them too closely.

Dettagli dell?edizione

• Editore: HarperCollins
• Data di pubblicazione: 2001
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0002571579
• ISBN 13: 9780002571579
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 256
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: WordUnited GmbH; distribution@wordunited.com; ; Theodorstrasse 105; DUSSELDORF; 40472; Germania