C. Thi Nguyen

speaker

3,183 appearances 5 recordings 5 series first heard Jan 2026 last heard 7 Jul

C. Thi Nguyen’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 5 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 2.

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Two Percent with Michael Easter · #25: Why Numbers, Scores, and Metrics Make Life Worse | Thi Nguyen · 2 Jul 2026 podcast

But another thing I wanted to say is that quantifications afford comparison.

So if I say I'm happy in my job, it's really interesting, it's really stressful, and then you say I'm happy in my job, it's really chill, and I can be really relaxed, how do we compare those two?

That's really difficult.

If, on the other hand, I say I make $100,000 a year and you say I make $70,000 a year, there's an instant and immediate comparison.

We don't even have to work for it.

So one thing is it makes comparison difficult.

And insofar as we like to compare each other, that's one thing.

But I think the deep story is Porter's story.

That what quantifications do is they enable us to be completely comprehensible to each other.

Instead of having to justify myself in some weird way, I can justify myself in a way that everybody understands instantly.

Yeah, and can generally agree upon.

I mean, here's one way to notice it.

It's not just a number.

I'll tell you why it's not just a number.

Yeah, yeah.

I can create a private journal and write how many experiences of total transcendence I had in my outdoor exercise.

I can tick that number up, but it's not going to be meaningful to anyone else, right?

On the other hand, if I'm like, what's my mileage?

Or what's my weight loss?

Or what's my calories burned?

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