Quantitative vs Qualitative Goods

Getting good grades, winning competitions, and receiving awards are all examples of things we have sought. They are all things which our society sees as good and worthy of pursuit, and rightly so. But these things largely derive their social status from the fact that they are quantitative. Academic grades, competitions, and awards, are, for the most part, based on a measurable system of scoring. Notwithstanding the varying situations and circumstances, the best or highest scorers are generally the winners. We know who ranks where, and what the results are.

But many of the most important things in life do not share the same admiration in the public forum. Things like learning, wisdom, personal growth, confidence, and one's ability to deal with failure, for example, do not share the same social esteem. And though few of us would personally dispute that such things are indeed more valuable and beneficial, we, as a society, tend to ignore them. Why is this? One reason could be that while the former examples are measurable and quantitative, the latter are largely intangible and qualitative. It is less clear who ranks where, and what the real results are.