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Mcnamara Fallacy

nounid 4966·updated May 18, 2026
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presum[ing] that (A) quantitative models of reality are always more accurate than other models; (B) the quantitative measurements that can be made most easily must be the most relevant; and (C) factors other than those currently being used in quantitative metrics must either not exist or not have a significant influence on success. Also known as the quantitative fallacy.

MWE

Classifications

Entity Type

Requirement72%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

Sensitivity

95%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

Information Class

95%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

Variants

synonym
quantitative fallacy
plural
Mcnamara Fallacies
possessive
Mcnamara Fallacy's
pluralpossessive
Mcnamara Fallacies'

Framework definitions

The McNamara Fallacy1 senseview framework →
§1
presum[ing] that (A) quantitative models of reality are always more accurate than other models; (B) the quantitative measurements that can be made most easily must be the most relevant; and (C) factors other than those currently being used in quantitative metrics must either not exist or not have a significant influence on success. Also known as the quantitative fallacy.

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