Quantitative measures provide certainty. A high GPA means tells me I’m doing well academically; a First Class Boy Scout has progressed further than a Tenderfoot; a college degree (used to) indicate the mastery of a specific body of knowledge. Qualitative values are...fuzzy... and don’t allow for comparison, so you have no idea where you are on the map. And if you don’t know where you are on the map, then you’re lost. And being lost is, well, bad.

That’s the narrative I’m fighting, anyway.