380 sats \ 1 reply \ @sorukumar 10 Mar \ on: Compressing Information for Other Humans and Self mostly_harmless
intriguing and thought-provoking writeup.
Even though it is about one idea of compression, it is getting applied in so many diverse contexts that my mind is numb in a good way. So I may be off track here.
First, it is not that the only benefit of compression is coordination, it does bring incremental insight. If we agree with 'I write to know what I am thinking' we have to agree that we don't have a good sense of our thoughts and experiences if we don't compress them, and in some cases, condense them into metrics.
In general, by compressing an idea or experience, we gain wisdom, and when we uncompress a number or a thing we may get incremental wisdom that we didn't get while compressing it. So both are necessary and both are great.
It is a cycle.
On KPIs for a company: I agree with both perspectives and don't view it as a dichotomy. One person suggests condensing company goals into meaningful metrics, while another, after careful consideration, chooses not to. In many cases, the process of debating and creating metrics provides insights and wisdom, It is not about following it dogmatically
Similar thoughts on Inflation. I don't take it as measuring inflation with a single number is 'wrong', I take it as it is not the best way to track it now, and it is due for a change.
If we agree with 'I write to know what I am thinking' we have to agree that we don't have a good sense of our thoughts and experiences if we don't compress them, and in some cases, condense them into metrics.
This is a Deep Truth: the act of forcing something into a compressed form is a useful kind of training. I do this all the time, explicitly, but have never considered it this way. Thanks.
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