The McNamara fallacy is the mistake of deciding only on the basis of measurable numbers and ignoring everything else. It takes its name from Robert McNamara, US Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1968. The sociologist Daniel Yankelovich described the progression in four steps: measure what is easy to measure, ignore what is hard to measure or assign it an arbitrary value, assume what cannot be measured is unimportant, and finally assume it does not exist. Yankelovich argued that McNamara's focus on metrics such as enemy body counts in the Vietnam War, while ignoring other factors, contributed to the American defeat. The fallacy is also called the quantitative fallacy.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.