Measuring

Is learning simply a way to make the world less terrifying, or can our motive for learning be a desire to serve others?

I would like to believe that everything can be measured. Personally I have difficulty measuring abstract things such as health. Is health just the degree to which one is not ill? That doesn't tell you much. What about people who have chronic health problems like diabetes, so are forced to be health-aware? I decided in the end (for an assignment) that health is the degree to which one desires to continue living. I don't think that's a measurable thing though, so I'm not satisfied.

The way to measure the effectiveness of a psychotherapist is to see what percentage of people he helps. But how much does he help, and is this change lasting? An exemplar psychotherapist would teach his client in a brief time how to effectively solve problems alone forever. I think the reason we look at the exemplar is because it is often the simplest case. But I don't think this helps us measure quality of achievement.

You know, I think that current academic achievement tests are really dumb. So, what is academic achievement? Isn't it the ability to apply knowledge? So why do these tests mostly measure plain knowledge, or knowledge applied in a way that is rarely useful in everyday life? The must be a better way. Not like I could do anything to change the way things are if I knew a better way.