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Datums of Comparable MagnitudeDatums of Comparable Magnitude is a simply yet powerful concept that simply states that to evaluate any one datum one must have another datum of comparable magnitude. To quantify something, one must measure it against something else. For example, the stove is neither "hot" nor "cold" but only "how hot" or "how cold", measured in degrees of temperature. And one cannot determine or measure the right way or the wrong way of painting a wall except in relationship to an ideally painted wall. That ideal must be established in relation to the quality of the finished product desired and the time and materials that one wishes to expend in producing that ideal. Hence one could state that using a toothbrush to paint a wall would be the "wrong way", if speed were one of the criteria for judging the finished product. Therefore one discovers something interesting. To understand what constitutes a good novel one must also understand what constitutes a bad novel. And in keeping with Gradient Scales one can develop a gradient scale from "bad novel" to "good novel" with an infinite gradation in between.
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