We measure what matters. Therefore, if we don’t measure it or can’t measure it, it must not matter. And values are not something we know how to consistently measure right now.

Bentoism

Bentoism is an acronym for ‘’BEyond Near Term Orientation’’. The term has been coined by Yancey Strickler, the cofounder and former CEO of Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform. It’s been inspired by years of thinking around the role of financial value versus other values. Bentoism offers a new way to think about self-interest in a multi-dimensional way. According to Yancey there are 4 dimensions, The ‘’Now Me’’ that represents what you want and need right now, The ‘’Future Me’’ that represents the considerations and the commitments of your future self, the ‘’Now Us’’ that takes into account the people we rely on and who rely on us, and finally, the ‘’Future Us’’ which is the next generation. The purpose of this mapping is to offer a new frame of reference to better understand our self-interest but also to value what’s not easily measurable and legible. Ian Vanagas is right, we measure what we can measure and so it becomes what matter the most. But, what if what should really matter can’t be consistently measured? Bentoism creates a new structure to help us focus on values other than money (‘’the easiest and most legible way to tell if you are succeeding’’), so we could make better decision for our society as a whole. An idea some may find revolutionary, others utopian, but I believe it has the merit to suggest an inspiring vision of the world.