Too Much Efficiency Makes Everything Worse: Overfitting and the Strong Version of Goodhart's Law
Jascha Sohl-Dicksteinsohl-dickstein.github.ioSaved by sari and
Too Much Efficiency Makes Everything Worse: Overfitting and the Strong Version of Goodhart's Law
This is sometimes referred to as Goodhart’s Law. Named after the economist Charles Goodhart, the principle states, “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”
James Clear • Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller
Thus, the McNamara fallacy, as it came to be known, refers to our tendency to focus on the most quantifiable measures, even if doing so leads us from our actual goals. Put simply, we try to measure what we value, but end up valuing what we measure.
And what we measure is rarely what we mean to value. As Skinner showed, the goals of games — points, b
... See moreGurwinder • Why Everything Is Becoming a Game
There is a common issue of over-optimizing the metrics in business, which can damage the whole system.
Doing the wrong thing efficiently is actually worse than doing the right thing badly.
– Rory Sutherland
But the science is increasingly clear. One issue is tunnel-vision – when we become overly focused on achieving a very specific end-goal, we may lose sight of other key factors, like staying true to our values. But the bigger one is the effect they have on our motivation: if we obsess over a goal, we lose track of the intrinsic pleasure that might c
... See more