Scoring Things

Manuel Moreale writing about their inability to Score Books:

I suck at this. I genuinely don’t know how to rate things on a scale, which is why the vast majority of the books I rate are either 4 or 4.5.

I can’t score things. Not books, not films, not products. I don’t think most people can. Unless your job is to review things all day, every day, the idea of boiling an experience down to a number feels impossible. Too many variables get in the way. Your mood, your expectations, even the time of year can shift the whole thing. Unless you dedicate your life to it, you’re really just guessing.

Whenever I’ve tried, two things always happen.

The first is that I end up lumping almost everything in the middle. Because most things are fine. They’re not life-changing, they’re not dreadful, they’re just… decent. And so, everything lands somewhere between a 4 and a 7 out of 10. There’s a reason The Verge jokes about living in a world without 7’s.

Or the moment I stick my neck out, I regret it. If I love something and give it a high score, I’ll get told I’ve overrated it. If I don’t enjoy something and give it a low score, I’ll be told I’m missing the point. Doesn’t matter what it is, a film that I enjoyed, or a book that fell flat. Someone will appear to explain why I’m wrong, and also stupid.

Which makes me wonder why we’re so obsessed with scores in the first place. There are too many factors that will affect your perception of things. What mood you are in, the products you used beforehand, or even just your personal preference. One score doesn’t capture the nuance, nor tell you what it felt like in the time since the review. I’d much rather enjoy a well-rounded conclusion at the end of an pinion piece instead.