Antarctic Sapiens

01 · The Library — Systems & Power

Only Money Counts

Every measurement system eventually gets used as a scoreboard, and then it stops measuring.

A painted portrait with a hundred-dollar bill across the eyes, on a red target ground, under the words ONLY MONEY COUNTS.

Carbon accounting was built to describe a physical quantity. Within a decade it was being used to rank institutions, and the ranking changed what got measured.

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