> real life resists those kinds of measurements

no it doesn't, there's just no single measurement that will answer everyone's "which is better" question.

Go is better for some stuff. Rust is better for other stuff. Perl is better for other things.

"better" can mean anything, but if you define it, then it has definition, and you can measure it. So, you have multiple definitions of "better" and you use them all when you compare.

zero people have the same weights of the various definitions of "better", even among programming languages; look at how much javascript is written today. JS is not a better language in any measure that is based on rational thought, but for some people "this is javascript and nothing else is javascript" is enough for them to know that javascript is the better choice for their project.