Counterintuitive Facts (40): When You Measure Something, You Destroy It
PremiumCampbell's Law: Data doesn't just lie, data pollutes reality
I. You're a mayor. You want to improve traffic safety. So you set a KPI: police bonuses tied to number of tickets issued. Logic is perfect: more tickets means stricter enforcement, fewer violations, safer traffic. Result?
II. Police no longer direct traffic. Instead they hide in bushes, catching trivial minor errors. One centimeter over the line, lane change without signaling. Even deliberately setting traps, entrapment enforcement. One year later, tickets doubled. KPI achieved. But traffic accidents didn't decrease. Citizens' hatred of police exploded. Metrics went up, reality got worse.
III. This is Campbell's Law. Sociologist Donald Campbell proposed in 1976: "Any quantitative social indicator, once used for decision making, will inevitably face distortion and corruption pressure, and w
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