I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Measuring and quantifying knowledge is essential to move from vague ideas to true science.
- In plain terms
- If you can't measure it, you don't truly understand it yet.
- What can you take from it?
- Use numbers to test and deepen your knowledge.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What can't be measured but matters?
- How do numbers change understanding?
Another view
Some valuable things like ethics or beauty resist strict quantification.
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