Dr C Thi Nguyen on How to stop playing someone else's game
About this episode
Dr. C. Thi Nguyen discusses how metrics and scoring systems influence our behavior and perceptions of success.
We like to think we choose what matters. But what if the goals we’re chasing… aren’t actually ours? Episode Summary My guest on this episode is Dr. C. Thi Nguyen , philosopher and author of The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game, a book about how metrics, scoring systems, and “games” shape our behaviour—often without us realising it. Thi explains how his work on games led him to a deeper question: why do scoring systems make games feel meaningful, but make real life feel distorted? The answer lies in how metrics redefine success—quietly shifting us from what we care about to what we can measure. In a wide-ranging discussion, we explore the idea of “value capture”, why institutions rely on simplified proxies, and how the very features that make metrics useful also make them dangerous. We also discuss expertise, transparency, gamification, and why removing metrics altogether doesn’t solve the problem. This is a conversation about control: who sets the rules, who keeps score, and what happens when we stop questioning the game we’re playing. Guest Bio Dr. C. Thi Nguyen is a philosopher whose work explores how games, metrics, and social systems shape human behaviour and…
People in this episode
Host: Human Risk
Guest: Dr. C. Thi Nguyen
Topics covered
- metrics
- scoring systems
- human behavior
- philosophy
- value capture
- gamification
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Utah
Books & works: The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game
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