Source · last reconsidered September 17, 2026
Goodhart Taxonomy
A short post that sorts the ways a proxyproxy — Something easy to measure that we use in place of what we actually care about — a test score in place of learning, likes in place of quality. measure fails under optimizationoptimization — Adjusting something to improve one chosen measure — speed, cost, clicks — often at the expense of what the measure leaves out. into four kinds.
- Areas
- KnowingAppearances
Garrabrant, Scott. "Goodhart Taxonomy." LessWrong, December 30, 2017.
Article · LessWrong · 2017 · Accessed September 17, 2026
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/EbFABnst8LsidYs5Y/goodhart-taxonomy
Interpretation
Garrabrant quotes Goodhart's original statistical wording, not Strathern's; the four types are his own.
Provenance
is the origin of
- A measure can break in four waysPosition
The quoted passage and the argument around it (opening paragraph).
related to
- Scott GarrabrantPerson
Scott Garrabrant is an author of the piece.