The Decoupling: Goodhart's Law and the Architecture of False Targets

The Proxy Parasite

The standard failure mode of the modern high-performer is the confusion of the map for the territory. You see a number rise and assume your life has improved. This is an error in measurement theory that destroys systems from the inside out. In 1975, economist Charles Goodhart observed that any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is placed upon it for control purposes. Donald Campbell reinforced this, noting that the more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures.

When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.