Yeah, most sane humans seem to have a deep-seated drive for comparisons with others. And numeric public comparisons trigger this to a great degree. GPA is competition-porn. Karma, for some, is social status junk-food.
This measure ALSO has some real value in feedback to you, and in signaling for future academic endeavors. The trick, like with any modern over-stimulus, is in convincing your system 1 to weight the input appropriately.
There’s something really tyrannical about externally imposed KPIs.
I can’t stop thinking about my GPA even if I make a conscious choice to stop optimizing for it.
Choosing to not optimize for it actually made it worse. A lower number is louder in my mind.
There’s something about a number being used for sorting that completely short circuits my brain, and makes me agonize over it.
Yeah, most sane humans seem to have a deep-seated drive for comparisons with others. And numeric public comparisons trigger this to a great degree. GPA is competition-porn. Karma, for some, is social status junk-food.
This measure ALSO has some real value in feedback to you, and in signaling for future academic endeavors. The trick, like with any modern over-stimulus, is in convincing your system 1 to weight the input appropriately.