It goes “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” How does that work in practice?
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When we perform a task, we would also like to know how well we perform that task. For example, almost everyone has gone to school. In school, you take a class. In the class, you learn something. At the end of that class, we measure how well you learned the something, and call it the grade. We use the grade to determine other things about you as well – if you have good grades, then you can go to a good college, for example.
Well, now the grade is the target, not the learning. So everyone is interested in getting the best grade, as opposed to learning the most. So rather than working harder, people find a way to get a better grade that doesn’t involve learning. They cheat with ChatGPT. The argue with their teacher / professor about their grade. They complain to the administration of the school / college.
Once, an “A” meant you did really well, a “B” was average, and a “C” was satisfactory. Now, an A is about average in many situations, and anything less seems unsatisfactory. Grades no longer measure how well you learned something – just about everyone has an A. The grade is the target, and is is no longer a good measure of the learning.
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