Humans’ love for measurement
What about the immeasurable?
Humans (started to) love measuring.
Humans’ quest to quantify anything around them is not new. It obviously signals the need for the invention of numbers and the development of various statistical tools for making meaning from data. Big data is just incomprehensible without the magic of Computation and Statistics. Automatic analysis of volumes of imperfect data to find insights and meanings has become one of the key interests, especially in today’s digital world. No doubt, Data Science has emerged as an exciting new field.
“Mathematical concepts are not wired into the human condition. They are learned, acquired through cultural and linguistic transmission. And if they are learned rather than inherited genetically, then it follows that they are not a component of the human mental hardware but are very much a part of our mental software — the feature of an app we ourselves have developed.” — writes Caleb Everett in her book Numbers and the Making of Us.
Hasn’t quantification made things around us more comprehensible?
No doubt, there’s a long history of attempts to measure emotional love; attempts by cognitive scientists to look at the social brain, and much more. The use of Abacus to functional neuroimaging (fMRI). Computational modelling of various metrics isn’t uncommon. Human’s curiousness to quantify and comprehend is further fuelled by the exponential, speed, and reliable nature of modern computing devices.
The fields of Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, and Data Science have evolved so much that anything that can be imagined can probably be measured. The whole business of Research mostly centers around effect measurement and observation quantification, analysis, and interpretation. It is obvious that this is humankind’s unending quest for comprehension of the world.
The sudden boom of smart devices, including watches and fitness ones that offer continuous measurement of heart rate using smart wearable devices, digital speedometers, thermometers, and breath analyzers, is all around us.
There’s a long history of educational assessments. Grades, disputation, ranking — It is unsurprising to see measurement happening all over. Visit a kindergarten — the height of a child in kindergarten and standardized evaluation at every level of school grades.
The Senior Secondary (10+2 board exam in the context of India) or final exam after 12 or 13 years of schooling is commonly used as the key to the University door.
Assessments are good, but the addiction to it is not.
Assessments are essential, but in the 21st Century, we talk of meaningful learning. The traditional way of assessment needs to be improved to support meaningful learning. The quest for numbers is good when it makes sense and can be used for positive and constructive feedback.
Measurement just for the purpose of reporting on a progress report is rather meaningless and will soon become obsolete.
