Thi Nguyen draws on the philosophy of games to explain how scores and metrics impact our lives—and what we can do to use them more meaningfully.

— YOU’LL LEARN —

1) How metrics can coopt our values and behavior

2) The hidden costs of the desire to quantify everything

3) Why the wrong people often seem to get ahead

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— ABOUT THI —

C. Thi Nguyen is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Utah, and a specialist in the philosophy of games, the philosophy of technology, and the theory of value.

A former food writer for the Los Angeles Times, Nguyen is active in public philosophy, writing for The New York Times, The Washington Post, New Statesman, and elsewhere.

• Book: The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game

• Website: Objectionable.net

• Bluesky: @add-hawk

— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW —

• Study: The Cultural Evolution of Bad Science by Paul Smaldino and Richard McElrath

• Book: Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed (The Institution for Social and Policy St) by James Scott

• Book: Trust and Antitrust: A Philosophical Exploration of Ethics by Annette Baier

• Book: The Grasshopper - Third Edition: Games, Life and Utopia by Bernard Suits

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1133: The Philosophy of Scores: How to Measure What Truly Matters and Stop Playing Someone Else’s Game with C. Thi Nguyen

How to Be Awesome at Your Job