The Tyranny of Numbers: Why Counting Can’t Make Us Happy

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David Boyle. The Tyranny of Numbers: Why Counting Can’t Make Us Happy

THE TYRANNY OF NUMBERS. Why Counting Can’t Make Us Happy. David Boyle

Contents

Dedication

Introduction. Still Life with Numbers

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Chapter 1 A Short History of Counting

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Chapter 2 Historical Interlude 1: Legislator for the World

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Chapter 3 Elusive Happiness

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Counting paradox 1: You can count people, but you can’t count individuals

Counting paradox 2: If you count the wrong thing, you go backwards

Counting paradox 3: Numbers replace trust, but make measuring even more untrustworthy

Counting paradox 4: When numbers fail, we get more numbers

Counting paradox 5: The more we count, the less we understand

Counting paradox 6: The more accurately we count, the more unreliable the figures

Counting paradox 7: The more we count, the less we can compare the figures

Counting paradox 8: Measurements have a monstrous life of their own

Counting paradox 9: When you count things, they get worse

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The more sophisticated you are, the less you can measure

Chapter 4 Historical Interlude 2: Commissioner of Fact

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Chapter 5 The Feelgood Factor

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Chapter 6 Historical Interlude 3: Social Copernicus

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Chapter 7 The New Auditors

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Chapter 8 Historical Interlude 4: National Accountant

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Chapter 9 The New Indicators

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Chapter 10 Historical Interlude 5: The Price of Everything

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Chapter 11 The Bottom Line is the Bottom Line

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Postscript

If you enjoyed The Tyranny of Numbers, why not try …

Index

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Also by the Author

Copyright

About the Publisher

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Cover

Title Page

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But don’t blame me. I was plummeted into this frame of mind as a teenager when I came across a poem by D. J. Enright called ‘Blue Umbrellas’, which in a few short lines summed up the poverty of definitions:

The thing that makes a blue umbrella with its tail –

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