#65 – The Problem of Quantification

2 years ago

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Dealing with the problem of quantification.

We live in a world plagued by a problem that can impact our perceptions, our thoughts, and our choices – it’s a problem of quantification. Now this podcast isn’t to deconstruct science or to criticism empiricism, rather to call to the foreground some of the challenges we inevitably face when trying to count, measure, or quantify both the things which we feel are easily measured, and those which are more difficult to quantify.

The problem of quantification comes out of the environment of science (referenced in this podcast on the science medium) and also relates to the limitations of language. In this podcast, we address the abstraction that language inevitably causes and how those abstractions fool us into thinking in certain ways and believing things that may not necessarily represent reality.

Alfred Korzybski introduced the terms neuro-semantic and neuro-linguistic and made reference to the neuro-linguistic and neuro-semantic environments that we inhabit. Neil Postman also dedicated a chapter in his book Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk, to the topic of the semantic environment, noting that, “a semantic environment includes, first of all, people; second, their purposes; third, the general rules of discourse by which such purposes are usually achieved; and fourth, the particular talk actually being used in the situation.”

Here, we point to the semantic environment of science and the limitations that it imposes on our human discourse and communication as well as the biases that it forces upon human perception and human behavior.

Enjoy the podcast!

Dealing with the problem of quantification.

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