The tyranny of our times
The “tyranny of the quantifiable” - these luminous words were a chance encounter for me, in a piece of writing by Rebecca Solnit ( The Guardian, 29 January 2026 ) – What technology takes from us and how to take it back. Environmental activist and author Chip Ward, I learnt was the one who coined this term. Like all of Solnit’s writings- this one I thought was brilliant too, but what stayed on and etched itself sharply in my heart was the expression itself .
Ordinary words? Not for me. For me, the interconnectedness of two ideas that I personally find distasteful was like finding an anthem that seemed to capture my angst of the moment.
Like love and misery (possibly a host of other things in life) tyranny comes in many forms. I wondered, when did my encounter with this brand of tyranny begin? Memory scrambled back to my battles against Mathematics/Arithmetic (call it whatever you will - for me, it continues to be the subject that shall never be named, besides, a thorn by any name, stings). The years have changed nothing - I lost the battle then, I am losing it now and I do not see any miracle unfolding in the future. As you see vividly and painfully for me – this marked my first encounter with that, which must/needs to be quantified. Let me rush to add, this is no rant against arithmetic/mathematics. While it continues to be an elusive enigma to me, I am well aware of its vital importance and sheer necessity.
My resentment is against everything that the quantifiable symbolizes (in my warped head) -living as we do in a performative world where almost EVERYTHING is subjected to quantification and EVERYONE is a statistic.
In my defense, this vitriol could possibly be blamed on middle aged angst. Admittedly, nothing that I am venting about is new. Afterall, we live in a world driven and fueled by the “quantifiable”. We are a society that worships the” quantifiable” in all forms.
All manner of things are subjected to quantification. Standardized testing in education, the deified exaltation of STEM courses, the algorithms that drive market forces, the measure of productivity and efficiency in domains where numbers should not be a deciding force. The list is nauseatingly endless.
A recent Substack post I devoured ‘Reading as a resistance to hustle culture’ highlighted that, in an “accomplishment driven culture even reading starts to feel like something to accomplish. Reading goals. Reading trackers….” Aha! See? Validation for my ranting.
A society reveals itself by what it chooses to deify and demonize. What does it tell about us as a society then – this “tyranny of the quantifiable”?
This is not to be insensitive to the multiple oppressive tyrannies that plague our world. Political tyranny in any hue and form anywhere is despicable and must be opposed to keep the flame of freedom burning. The silent tyrannies that creep into our life to overwhelm us and devour us completely – they must be paid attention to, if not resisted.
Since I have shared my first encounter with my personal “tyranny of the quantifiable” it is only befitting that I should also share my first encounter with what I view as a resistance to tyranny – that jewel of literature - Shakespeare’s King Lear. This is unapologetic bias, I realize.
When Lear famously asks of his daughters,“ Which of you shall we say doth love us most ?” and two of his daughters have made exaggerated “quantifiable” claims of their love, Cordelia’s answer is “ Nothing, my lord.”
To me, this is resistance. And while to many ,it maybe be foolish, to me, Cordelia’s words are glorious defiance. She will never submit to the “ tyranny of the quantifiable.”
Meanwhile, I comfort myself in finding the validation I so fervently seek - in words, books, literature, art - our eternal resistances to ALL tyrannies.
There’s a strange irony in how we live. We say we hate numbers, yet our whole world seems to revolve Commerce.
Recently I read a post saying that if you read one book a week, you can finish 52 books in a year. At first I loved the idea. But reading you make me realized that it would turn reading into a goal or a task. And if I ever fell behind, I would most definitely beat myself up.
Reading your words made me notice that I had slowly started thinking in that same rat-race mindset. I would have chased those 52 books...So thank you for reminding me that reading doesn’t have to be another target to achieve. It can simply there for me to get lost whenever I want.
When I saw the words King Lear, it brought back so many memories. Those 8:00 a.m. magical lectures like being transported to Ancient Greece, Mount Olympus.. I remember how frustrated I used to feel with Shakespeare because his stories didn’t end with “happily ever after.” I was truly heartbroken when I learned that Cordelia dies. Why you have to kill her?? She didn't do anything. Belive me couldn't comprehend it for a long time. You’ve often said how much you admire her. I think I understand it better now. Her answer was almost a quiet rebellion against the idea that love needs to be measured or proved in big words.
Please keep writing. Your words feel like an anchor that reminds me not to lose myself. They remind me that life isn’t about completing tasks or chasing numbers. Life was meant to be lived, and laughed through.
As someone who loathes metrics of any sort - hard relate!🫶🏽
Wonderfully written. Thank you for the validation!
(Also, thank you for tagging my post. I’m glad you enjoyed it!)