We need a way to discuss the trade-offs between different policy proposals, different actions, different jobs, different purchases, different anything.
Consider two competing alternatives – Alternative A and Alternative B. And assume that they cannot both be chosen for some reason – perhaps they would consume the same piece of land, or that there is not enough money for both, or for any of a number of different possible reasons that doing one would preclude doing the other.
Choosing alternative A over alternative B pre-supposes that alternative A is “better” on some scale of measure, than alternative B. It would, on anyone’s scale of consideration, be “irrational” for to you choose Alternative A if you also agree that Alternative B is “better” on the appropriate scale of measure.
What we need is a “Scale of Measure” against which we can both agree that Alternative A is “better” or “worse” than Alternative B.