More Doesn't Mean Better

In the pursuit of growth—more money, more fans, more consumption—we become the dog chasing its tail. We start chasing the wrong signals.

With more data available than ever, we've become obsessed with false proxies. What looks like an objective measure ends up being an inaccurate reflection of the truth, drifting our efforts in the wrong direction.

These false proxies are a mirror, reflecting our biases and prejudices of how we see the world.

"Growth is good" is the obvious one. Take GDP. It's a cold, calculated formula that doesn't factor in human or environmental costs. In fact, those often bring GDP down. When communities switch to public transit, start a community garden, or fix a broken appliance instead of buying a new one, GDP goes down. When there's a war, a school shooting, or the cost of surgery rises, GDP goes up. GDP doesn't measure what's better. It measures more and calls it the same thing.

But it isn't just GDP.

Call it the N+1 theory: there is always one more of anything.

The fifth marshmallow doesn't taste as good as the first. The infinite scroll keeps us hooked on media junk food, around and around. Another series on Netflix becomes decision fatigue, so we let the algorithm decide for us.

More doesn't mean better. Better means better.

As economist Charles Goodhart put it, when a metric becomes the goal, we lose sight of what we were trying to do in the first place.

The dog keeps chasing its tail.