# The Score by C. Thi Nguyen

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/score/

4 people recommended The Score by C. Thi Nguyen in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 4 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for its clear argument that you can tell when a value you care about has quietly become just a metric, which applies to modern measurement culture.

Summary written by Claude from 4 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Praised as excellent and phenomenal (2 comments in the sample): "it’s phenomenal. Incredibly applicable to our modern age of metrics and measurements and organizations at scale." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49925143)) "C. Thi Nguyen’s excellent book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47030782))
- Helps spot values turned into metrics (1 comment in the sample): "has given me a new way to see if something I value is actually just a metric I learned" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48449980))
- Clearly and patiently explained (1 comment in the sample): "very patiently and pleasantly explained in the recent book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49642591))

## Other nonfiction books people recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg/): 38 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death/): 30 recommend, 5 mixed, 0 criticize
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation/): 21 recommend, 1 mixed, 11 criticize
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification/): 18 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Score by C. Thi Nguyen", https://hackerapproved.com/p/score/ (4 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.