Mechanical values replace human ones: why we are losing something important.

The choice between fuzzy and mechanical values

According to Vox: We have a choice. We can keep our goals and values fuzzy. We can value things like wisdom, communication, friendship, or community. These are recognizable and very human values. However, without further clarification, we will probably fiercely dispute about how to implement them.

Or we can make our values mechanical. The more we specify and mechanize our goals, the easier it will be to coordinate and understand how well we have achieved them. Instead of striving for health, we could set a goal of reaching a certain number of steps. Instead of seeking community and connection, we could aim for Likes and Subscriptions. Instead of teaching our students critical thinking, we focus on standardized tests, speed of graduation, and high salaries.

Yet, these mechanical values systematically miss something important — the difficult-to-formalize but absolutely essential aspect of human life. There is a gap between what is easy to quantify and what is truly valuable.

The philosophy of rules

The advantage of mechanical values is their ease of application. It is very difficult to reach a consensus with others about what constitutes a full life, great art, or a soul-enriching profession. But agreeing on what leads to statistically longer life, more views, or money — is much easier. When we make our values mechanical, we can just as easily compare achievements.

To be an algorithm, one must be a rule that is written for use without significant skills, judgments, or deliberation.

Researcher Lorraine Daston offers three different ideas of rules. The first is a principle, a general abstract statement about what to do — but with exceptions. A principle is not applied thoughtlessly; it should be implemented with attention and care.

Another concept is a model, an ideal, or a pattern. A model also requires emphasis on judgment during application. The last concept is an algorithm, a clear rule that is mechanically applied, without judgment or choice.

Old recipes versus modern ones

My mother was a wonderful cook. She learned to cook not from cookbooks, but from her relatives in Vietnam. I learned to cook from recipes in classic culinary publications. When I explored my favorite Vietnamese dish, I realized that precise recipes do not always yield the best results.

Modern recipes provide exact instructions, but they often lack flexibility for an intuitive approach and judgment. My mother, while giving me a recipe, tried to pass on her art, but without specific measurements. At that time, I did not understand that she was trying to teach me the importance of feeling when cooking.

Trade

A recipe is an example of a mechanical procedure. A procedure is mechanical if it can be consistently applied without the need for judgment. However, such mechanicalness can limit our ability to notice variety in outcomes.

Thus, when we use mechanical values, we adopt mechanical rules for assessing importance. These systems have their strength, but they also introduce a new kind of bias that focuses on what we can count.

Therefore, by choosing mechanical values, we make ourselves interchangeable in evaluating and judging the important.

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