The act of measuring

Measuring isn’t simply about quantity but also about quality. Judgment might be more important than facts in the act of measuring:

“The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is O.K. as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which can’t be measured or give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what can’t be measured easily really isn’t very important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can’t be easily measured really doesn’t exist. This is suicide.”

Source: David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest, 1993.