Most social changes have too many effects to be pure wins, so a widespread shift to quantification will likely cause some harm in addition to benefits.
The WEIRDest People in the World has some hints about the trade-offs. E.g. in many cultures, people don’t buy from the merchant who offers them the best deal. They buy from the merchant to whom they’re most closely connected (as in kin). A switch to more competitive markets makes trade more efficient, at the cost of weakening some social bonds.
The Institutional Revolution: Measurement and the Economic Emergence of the Modern World, by Douglas Allen, argues that trends of this nature played an important role in the industrial revolution. In particular, the practice of honor duels seems to have ended due to better ways of measuring how honorable a person is.
Yes and no.
Most social changes have too many effects to be pure wins, so a widespread shift to quantification will likely cause some harm in addition to benefits.
The WEIRDest People in the World has some hints about the trade-offs. E.g. in many cultures, people don’t buy from the merchant who offers them the best deal. They buy from the merchant to whom they’re most closely connected (as in kin). A switch to more competitive markets makes trade more efficient, at the cost of weakening some social bonds.
The Institutional Revolution: Measurement and the Economic Emergence of the Modern World, by Douglas Allen, argues that trends of this nature played an important role in the industrial revolution. In particular, the practice of honor duels seems to have ended due to better ways of measuring how honorable a person is.