Metrics in Life, a confused thought!

What is metrics?

It became one of my habits now to start any conversation with a question. Many are finding it annoying or seem to be bossy to them. I totally get it. But I firmly believe that questioning makes me to understand a concept well. It helps me to self-evaluate my level of knowledge on particular topics so that I could invest time and energy accordingly to learn more. That’s exactly the concept of metrics. It is a tool to gauge any process to monitor and evaluate to reach the desired mission.

So metrics is good. It is essential and largely acceptable when it comes to business. Metrics are discovered mainly to monitor and drive a business in a uniform way across the globe. There are many metrics out there to measure various activities and I am not going to bore you all by listing all those. This post is about, will such metrics are needed to measure success of an individual?

I am done with discussing or debating about worldly topics or politics which as an individual we don’t have even slightest impact by doing so. By seeing the current affairs, at times I doubt the concept of democracy too. So it is practically we need to think and discuss about the topics which we have control to build better individual, family and society rather than whining about larger than life stories. So let’s discuss about few Metrics which are famous, agreed across the globe and followed but I have problem with those. Thanks to Prof. Yuval for the insights and helping me to think over these topics.

Life is once and we need to make use of it at most to lead happy, comfortable and meaningful life. There is no right or wrong, having said this we are bound to live with few parameters, laws, ethics and virtues. These are all man made and subject to change constantly.

Grades/ Marks in education:

I am not going to bore you with history/ evolution of Grade system in education. But it is widely accepted metric to evaluate one’s academic/ intellectual proficiency. I still remember the list of students who were celebrated as top performer in school & colleges and also list of students who were depreciated as low performer. Throughout my academia right from KG till Engineering, this culture of Gradeism prevailed. Seriously I call it as Gradeism. How different it is from Casteism? Continuous discrimination based on marks/ grades from few gifted students who may be good at grasping concepts well or memorizing the contents or privileged to study without any trouble at home. There are many aspects to be considered when a student is performing low in studies. Do schools are equipped with proper infrastructure? Have qualified teachers who know concepts as well as student’s psychology? Do they have counsellor to understand student’s problem to guide them in right path? Do government making policy with right set of wise people? The common answer is NO.

So as I told at the start, we as an individual don’t have say in this matter. We are bound to live with this metrics of Grade system. One needs Good marks in school to get into prestigious institute. One need good marks to get into prestigious firm for employment. One need good marks to be recognised as top performer. There is no proper system to evaluate the real potential of an individual and with this gap we as parents imposing enormous pressure over our kids and pushing them to run in a rat race blindly without understanding the goal. Goal is to live happily. Goal is to learn in school/ college not memorizing the predefined content. We should be clear with our goal and need to have practical way of parenting to reach the same in unfair environment. Though it is true that good marks yield better life but we should remember that this is not the only way to achieve success. Just think of those people who were belittled by the above said discrimination. All would have been in different sectors and many would be doing well with their jobs. So MARK is not the end. Let’s stop putting pressure on our kids and I hope that this grade system may be eradicated in future. What’s the alternative? Let’s discuss.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product):

Don’t be worried that I am going to explain what is GDP and formula to arrive the numbers. Frankly, I too don’t know the exact math behind this. On high level, GDP is the metric to evaluate the economic growth of any country. With this one liner, we shall discuss about my problem with this metric. GDP is very powerful tool that all policies of a country would be in a way linked with this metric. It is the widely accepted metric to showcase the success of a country in global arena. More the GDP, more the growth of a country. But who is the real beneficiary of this metric is the problem. Personally, when India was doing well with GDP earlier I didn’t feel any improvement or benefit but on contrary, I am facing the heat when India’s GDP is abysmally low now. Strange isn’t it? As a tax payer (Both direct and indirect), I don’t enjoy any cushion right now. I may be naïve, please enlighten me in comment section if I am wrong, I would happily learn from you.

GDP is clearly missing the real goal here. If a country is doing well (High GDP), people should be happy living in the country. If a policy is framed to achieve good GDP, then people should embrace those policies which in turn are going to make them happy. But is that case? I could see protest in all sectors and misery in major portion of country. So what should be the alternate metrics to gauge the success of country? One most talked metric is GNH (Gross National Happiness). It is the tool to evaluate well-being of country’s citizen. With this metric, where do you see India in the world map? Just imagine the policies and attitude of politician if such metric is in place to measure the success of a country?

Financial Status (Loan and EMI):

Consumerism is the most successful religion in the world, according to Prof Yuval. Capitalism and consumerism go hand in hand. Capitalism produces goods and Consumerism helps in selling those goods. One cannot survive without other. Why consumerism is most successful religion? Why it is termed as religion. The only agenda of consumerism is to make others buy things even if it is totally unnecessary which is exactly what people are doing religiously. We often fell for advertisement, tag lines and social pressure to buy things without necessity. Banking helped for this success hugely. Credit cards, Loans and EMI are the honey trap devised for us and many got trapped.

Financial status is the metric which measures an individual financial success. The common question that we get when we attend any function or party from others is where do you live? How did you reach here? Car or bike? If car, what model it is? We are judged by our attire, jewels, perfume, watch, smartphone, car model, size of home and many more. It is endless, seriously endless. So in order to achieve this success we again fell into trap of HARD WORK, extending our work time, working away from family ignoring health. The modern morning wishes which we get daily in our Whatsapp are also product of Consumerism. ‘Life is short, live your life’, ‘Go chase your dream’, ‘Life is once, enjoy to fullest’ and many more. These quotes may look legit and sensible but it is also trap laid by monsters. What is Goal here? Goal is to live happy and comfortable life. Are we happy by getting loan? By Paying EMI for 20+ years? By adding liabilities? Ask yourselves and decide. Are we spending quality time with our family? Are we guiding our kids? Are we pursing our passion? Are we learning daily? Let’s ponder.

TRP (Television Rating Point):

TRP is a metric to measure a television program success based on viewers count. Higher the viewers, higher the TRP, higher the success. Television is the most used device for entertainment and informational purposes. With this metrics, the content of programs/ NEWS are of low quality and mostly in line with mood of the viewers. They are all playing with human psychology rather than airing quality or trustable information. Fake news, third graded/ gossip contents, spreading hatred and fixed sports are all by-product of TRP. But unfortunately we (many) choose this stupid box for our entertainment as well as information gathering purpose which were thoroughly been exploited by politicians and businessmen.

Conclusion:

If you are reading this line, big Thanks from my side for patiently reading my long perspective. Having said this, I am not against any of these metrics. I am confused. Are these metrics meeting the desired Goal? Are we happy and successful? It is definitely subjective. We cannot measure ourselves using a single metric. We are not a product or mechanism to monitor using these metrics. But sadly we are bound to follow these. The agenda of this post it to do self-introspect about these metrics. We need not to fall for these traps and social pressure. Let’s analyse well and live our life meaningful. Let me know your thoughts.