I imagine many decent attempts would include numbers like, “total expected benefit of one member”. Our culture often finds some of these calculations too “cold and calculating.”
I think this is a good point. A three-factor model of community building comes to mind as a prior post that had to tackle and communicate about this sort of tricky thing, and that did a good job of that, in my opinion. That post might be useful reading for other people who have to tackle and communicate about this sort of tricky issue in future. (E.g., I quoted it in a recent post of mine.)
The most relevant parts of that post are the section on “Elitism vs. egalitarianism”, and the following paragraph:
[Variation in the factors this post focuses on] often rests on things outside of people’s control. Luck, life circumstance, and existing skills may make a big difference to how much someone can offer, so that even people who care very much can end up having very different impacts. This is uncomfortable, because it pushes against egalitarian norms that we value. [...] We also do not think that these ideas should be used to devalue or dismiss certain people, or that they should be used to idolize others. The reason we are considering this question is to help us understand how we should prioritize our resources in carrying out our programs, not to judge people.
I think this is a good point. A three-factor model of community building comes to mind as a prior post that had to tackle and communicate about this sort of tricky thing, and that did a good job of that, in my opinion. That post might be useful reading for other people who have to tackle and communicate about this sort of tricky issue in future. (E.g., I quoted it in a recent post of mine.)
The most relevant parts of that post are the section on “Elitism vs. egalitarianism”, and the following paragraph:
Thanks!