What We Lose When We Optimise

Two pieces, read together, make a case I want to sit with.

Damasio on what education is for:
“Hunger, thirst, satiation, pain, heat, cold, well-being, pleasure, malaise. All of these are feelings and all of these… indicate to you, in no uncertain terms, something about the state of your life right now.”
“The ultimate practical goals of education are very simple: reduce harm to the individual, enhance the individual’s welfare.”

WIRED on Alpha School:
“She told her mom that staff at the school said she didn’t earn her snacks and wouldn’t get them until she met her learning metrics.”
“She broke down and sobbed that she’d rather die than keep going.”

Education evolved to serve life. Here, life serves metrics.

Originally written for LinkedIn on 27 November 2025. View original →