Able Quote by Cathy O'Neil
“You'll never be able to really measure anything, right? Including teachers.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Weapons of Math Destruction, 2016
Questioning the ability to quantify complex phenomena, especially human performance, highlighting limits of measurement.
In simple terms: Measuring everything, especially people, is impossible.
Key Takeaway
Accept measurement limits.
Themes
education
measurement
uncertainty
ethics
systems thinking
Mood
critical
thoughtful
Type
analytical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- teacher evaluations
- standardized testing
- performance reviews
Key Concepts
Quantitative analysis
human assessment
policy evaluation
Questions to Reflect On
- What aspects of teaching resist quantification?
- How can we balance data with intuition?
A Different Perspective
Over‑reliance on metrics can mislead decisions.
![“With recidivism algorithms, for example, I worry about racist outcomes. With personality tests [for hiring], I worry about filtering out people with mental health problems from jobs. And with a teacher value-added model algorithm [used in New York City to score teachers], I worry literally that…” quote by Cathy O'Neil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7df/cathy-o-neil-11478_algorithms_with-recidivism-algorithms-for-example-i_18212.jpg)
